
Class 
Book 



f 



Copyright N°__. 



COPYRIGHT DEPOSfT. 



THE FAMILY FOOD 



BY 



T. C. O'Donnell 




THE PENN PUBLISHING COMPANY 

PHILADELPHIA 

191 1 



<v 






COPYEIGHr 
1911 -BY 
THEPENN 
PUBLISHING 
COMPANY 



The Family Food 



% 



© CI. A 2 98 « 



PREFACE 

Of the making of books on health, espe- 
cially health books dealing with diet, there is 
no end. Particularly conspicuous are books 
on raw food, fasting, and other fads and fash- 
ions. It is the author's opinion that the gen- 
eral reader lacks both the time and the technical 
training necessary to conduct experiments upon 
himself, and that the better way is to choose 
widely from the vast assortment of foodstuffs 
which Nature has provided, giving especial 
heed to heat and energy-producing values, di- 
gestibility, assimilability, therapeutic effects, 
economy, etc. It is the author's purpose in 
the present work to afford data upon which 
to base such a selection, and he is convinced 
that a treatise of this kind will be found gen- 
erally of greater practical value than one which 
advocates a rigid restriction of the diet. 

In the preparation of his work the author 
has consulted among other authorities the fol- 
lowing : Hutchison, " Food and the Principles 
of Dietetics " ; A. Gautier, " Diet and Dietet- 

a 



4 PREFACE 

ics " ; Graham Lusk, " Science of Nutrition " ; 
W. Gilman Thompson, " Practical Dietetics " ; 
R. H. Chittenden, " The Nutrition of Man " 
and " Physiological Economy in Nutrition " ; 
Mrs. E. E. Kellogg, " Science in the Kitchen," 
and Mrs. Ellen H. Richards, " The Cost of 
Food." 

T. C. O. 



CONTENTS 

CHAPTER PAGE 

Preface 3 

I Better Food at Less Cost > 7 

II Diet for Mental Efficiency 13 

III Diet for Muscular Efficiency .... 30 

IV Shopping Economics 40 

V Hygiene of the Kitchen 54 

VI Cooking 69 

VII Meat Foods . . . 82 

VIII The Cereals 102 

IX Vegetables 133 

X Fruits ....'. 156 

XI Nuts 174 

XII Dairy Products 186 

XIII Condiments and Spices 199 

XIV Beverages 206 

XV Catering for the Sick ....... 229 

Index 255 



THE FAMILY FOOD 

CHAPTER I 

BETTER FOOD AT LESS COST 

The science of the human body has failed 
to keep pace with the progress which has been 
made in the mechanical sciences. Within the 
space of a century and a half, locomotive 
engineering has reached a state of perfection 
which leaves little, it would seem, to be added. 
Within the same period of time electricity 
has been discovered and wrought into the very 
fabric of our every-day life. Little more 
than a century ago the first balloon ascension 
was made; to-day we are flying at will in 
heavier-than-air machines. Knowledge of 
medicines and surgery has likewise made rapid 
strides; we have become marvelously adept in 
the art of making people well; but only now 
are we beginning to discover the science of 
keeping well. 

Every man and woman spends on an aver- 
7 



8 THE FAMILY FOOD 

age ten days a year under the physician's 
care — laid up for repairs, as it were. Add 
to this the further fact that most people suffer 
constantly from chronic headache, nervous- 
ness, indigestion, or other ailments which im- 
pair their working efficiency, making concen- 
tration and alertness of mind and deftness of 
hand impossible, and one sees at once that it 
is a crude sort of machine with which we at- 
tempt to do our part in this strenuous world's 
work. A locomotive as inefficient as the aver- 
age human body would be consigned to the 
scrap heap. 

And yet, compared with the obstacles which 
have had to be overcome in, say, mastering 
the air, progress in human efficiency is a sim- 
ple affair. In the one case, long and expen- 
sive series of experiments were necessary to 
ascertain the type of craft best suited to aerial 
navigation, while the means of propulsion pre- 
sented problems which even now have not been 
solved. With the body, however, the case 
is different. We cannot alter the ma- 
chine with which we have been endowed, not 
even with respect to those anatomical and me- 
chanical defects in the human organism which 
Darwin regarded as positive disproof of the 
creation of man by an intelligent power. 



BETTER FOOD AT LESS COST 9 

FOOD AND HEALTH 

Efforts toward the perfection of the body- 
as an efficient working and thinking machine 
must therefore be confined to improvements 
in its motive power ; and since this is generated 
from the foods we eat, the range of our en- 
quiries is narrowed down chiefly to what food 
we shall eat and how and when we shall 
eat it. 

It is said, on good authority, that 90 per 
cent, of all physical ailments are attributa- 
ble to gastric disorders, and it would not be 
wide of the truth to add that the remaining 
10 per cent, are for the greater part inherited 
from the wrong dietetic habits of our ances- 
tors. 

VALUE OF PROPER DIET 

We would not be understood as saying, of 
course, that 90 per cent, of all sickness 
could be eliminated by proper habits of diet; 
but it is an undoubted fact that proper habits 
of diet, combined with fresh air and exercise, 
will eliminate 90 per cent, of chronic dis- 
ease, and at the same time so build up the 
system as to make the individual immune, or 
practically immune, to acute diseases. 



10 THE FAMILY FOOD 

KEEP WELL AND SAVE MONEY 

Immunity to disease means, as we have said, 
muscular and mental efficiency; but it has as 
well a decided value in household economics : 
while you are cutting out sickness you are at 
the same time cutting down your doctor's and 
druggist's accounts. Many families on the 
amount which needless sickness costs them 
could live in a fair degree of independence. 
The money which they spend for medicines and 
" dope " would give the children a college edu- 
cation or set them up in business. 

This question of economics, moreover, has 
another important phase: those foods which 
are most conducive to efficiency and immu- 
nity to disease are the cheapest. Chowders, 
salads, hot sauces, expensive cuts of meat, 
fritters, and indigestible foods of this kind, 
for instance, cost double the price of plain, 
nourishing food such as potatoes, rice, bread 
and butter, milk, etc. 

To illustrate : the dinner menu for the aver- 
age family of six, on a $2,000 income, will 
read something as follows: salmon (broiled), 
.30; peas, .085; bread, .04; beef (rib roast), 
.60; potatoes, .02; tomatoes (stuffed), .067; 
lettuce and cucumbers, .10; French dressing, 



BETTER FOOD AT LESS COST 11 

.08; saltines, .025; cheese, .03; coffee, .032; 
relishes and garnishes, .15; total, $1,529, or 
an average of 30 cents per person, while the 
number of calories per person is 1,400. * 

Let us see if good palatable food cannot be 
purchased that will yield 1,400 calories at a 
considerably less expense, as indicated by the 
following suggestive bill of fare: tomato 
soup, .10; potatoes, .02 ; baked cauliflower, .04; 
Lima beans, .12; spinach, .10; macaroni (with 
cheese), .07; bread, .04; butter, .15 ; ripe olives, 
.10; pie (pumpkin), .08; cocoa, .05; walnuts 
(3 ounces), .08; or a total of 95 cents, or a 
trifle less than sixteen cents per person, with 
a food value of 1,440 calories. Not only is 
the meal quite equal in point of variety and 
palatableness to the more elaborate dinner, but 
each dish is wholesome and not open, from 
the standpoint of health, to some of the ob- 
jections which can be brought against such 
foods as salmon, saltines and roast rib. 

To state, then, in a simple, practical way the 
means by which health and efficiency may be 
increased and the doctor's and grocer's bills 
decreased is the aim of the following chap- 
ters. The author has no thesis to present, 

1 For the above figures the author is indebted to Mrs. 
Ellen H. Richards' valuable work, " The Cost of Food." 



12 THE FAMILY FOOD 

convinced as he is that it is facts, not theory, 
which the housewife must have access to in 
planning an efficiency diet for her family. He 
takes this opportunity, also, of asking the 
reader's indulgence if in places the writing 
seems involved and technical. The only justi- 
fication which he offers is this : that as already 
suggested, the subject is comparatively a new 
one, and in lieu of a popular nomenclature one 
is obliged, in writing for the lay reader, often 
to adopt a scientific term or else use a round- 
about mode of expression which would be- 
wilder the reader in a maze of circumlocution. 



CHAPTER II 

DIET FOR MENTAL EFFICIENCY 

Most important of all questions relating to 
diet is the amount of food necessary to keep 
the body in health. It may not be true in 
every case that " we eat too much by half," 
as has been averred, but almost every one of 
us could cut down his daily ration by a long 
way and be the better for it. 

An adult body doing muscular work re- 
quires nearly one and one-half pounds of food 
a day to replace the heat which is consumed 
in its energies. Of this amount four ounces, 
or 119 grams, should consist of the proteins, 1 

1 The chemical elements which compose our food fall 
into four groups: (1) proteins, (2) fats, (3) car- 
bohydrates, and (4) water and salts. The proteins are 
made up chiefly of nitrogen, carbon, oxygen, and hy- 
drogen. They are found chiefly in nuts, meats, eggs, 
milk, cream, cheese, peas, beans, lentils, and to a lesser 
degree in grains. The carbohydrates compose that 
group in which carbon exists in combination with hy- 
drogen and oxygen, and are found chiefly in cereals, 
fruits, and vegetables. Cane sugar and the various 
forms of starch are typical carbohydrate foods. The 
fats represent another combination of carbon, hydro- 
gen and oxygen, in which carbon predominates. Olive 
oil, which is almost pure fat, butter and nuts are excel- 

13 



14 THE FAMILY FOOD 

the cell-building element; two ounces, or 56 
grams, should be made up of the fats, and 
17.5 ounces, or 500 grams, of carbohydrates, 
both purely heat- or energy-producing 
groups. Either in an oven or in the body 
the combustion of these 23.5 ounces of food 
produces about 3,000 calories, 1 or heat units, 

lent types of the fats. Water forms about sixty-five 
per cent, of the weight of the body, and consequently 
enters quite largely into the composition of food. The 
mineral salts, calcium, chlorin, sodium, iron, etc., exist in 
our bodies in various combinations, and consequently 
must form a part of the food we eat. They are found 
chiefly in fruits and green vegetables. The proportion 
in which these various substances should be present in 
our food will be given attention in later chapters. 

1 1 gram protein is equivalent to 4.1 calories (a cal- 
orie is the amount of heat necessary to raise the tem- 
perature of a gram of water from 15-16.8 Fahrenheit). 
I gram fat is equivalent to 9.3 calories. 
I gram carbohydrate is equivalent to 4.1 calories. 
Thus, 118 grams of protein are equiva- 
lent to 483.8 calories. 

56 grams of fat are equivalent 

to 520.8 

500 grams of carbohydrate are 

equivalent to 2050.0 " 

Total 3054.6 " 

These figures represent the ration in the various food 
elements for the muscular worker. Reduced one-third, 
they give in each instance the amount of the various 
elements required for the sedentary worker, or ap- 
proximately : proteins, 300 calories ; fats, 350 calories, 
and carbohydrates, 1350 calories. A woman doing ac- 
tive housework needs practically the same amount of 
food as a man doing muscular work, considering, of 
course, the size of the individual, which as shown in the 
table on page 19, is an important factor. Very light 
housework will approximate more nearly the ration for 



DIET FOR MENTAL EFFICIENCY 15 

precisely the amount of heat which the body 
transforms into energy when doing muscu- 
lar work. 

THE BALANCE BETWEEN FOOD AND EXERCISE 

It is important that this nice balance be- 
tween the intake of food and the body's de- 
mand for heat and energy be maintained. 
There are two ways in which substances taken 
into the- body as nourishment are eliminated : 
{i) in the generation of heat and energy, and 
(2) in the excretions of the various elimina- 
tory organs. 

When one takes into his system more food 
than is required to supply heat and energy, 
the surplus must be eliminated by the excre- 
tory organs. Now in a perfectly healthy body 
these organs are worked to their full capacity 
in casting off the poisons which result from 
the chemical changes which take place in the 
digestion and assimilation of food. The 
lungs, for instance, while they constantly 
breathe in oxygen from the air, at the same 
time exhale carbonic acid gas. 

the sedentary man. A boy 12 or a girl 13-14 years of 
age requires seven-tenths the amount of food demanded 
by a man doing muscular work;, a boy 10-11 or a girl 
10-12 years of age six-tenths ; a child 6-9 years of age, 
one-half ; 2-5 years of age, two-fifths, and under two 
years, three-tenths. 



16 THE FAMILY FOOD 

If, in addition, we fill our system with 
food which cannot be utilized in the produc- 
tion of energy and heat, it is thrown upon the 
various organs for elimination, with the re- 
sult that these organs collapse under the addi- 
tional load. 

THE CAUSE OF FATIGUE 

Unable to leave the, body either as energy 
or as excretions, these substances are carried 
by the blood to all parts of the body, where 
they undergo chemical changes which convert 
them into virulent poisons. Circulating in 
the brain, these toxins, as they are called, pro- 
duce migraine and other forms of headache; 
they give to the skin a dingy, yellowish hue 
which we are in the habit of considering a 
symptom of " biliousness," though the fact 
is that biliousness and sallowness of the skin 
are both symptoms of a common disorder — 
poisoning of the body tissues by the circulating 
toxins, a condition which has become known 
as " autointoxication." 

An aspect of autointoxication that must ap- 
peal with special force to the sedentary and the 
muscular worker is its production of fatigue. 
The poisons which cause autointoxication, in- 



DIET FOR MENTAL EFFICIENCY 17 

deed, are sometimes spoken of as " fatigue 
poisons," because, paralyzing the nerves and 
muscles, they render them incapable of pro- 
longed application without producing intense 
weariness. If the condition is allowed to go 
on without relief the fatigue becomes chronic, 
and mental work is entirely out of the ques- 
tion. 

PROTEINS DECAY READILY 

Particularly virulent are the toxins which 
rise from decaying protein substances. Meat, 
for example, which is rich in protein material, 
is set upon by the germs of decomposition as 
soon as it reaches the alimentary canal, and 
gives rise rapidly to poisonous substances 
which enter the system through the blood and 
cause fatigue of the most pronounced character. 
Meat on this account should be omitted from 
the dietary of the man who wishes to attain 
the highest efficiency of mind. The legumes 
— peas, beans and lentils — are likewise rich 
in protein and should not be eaten in excess, 
though they do not decay so rapidly as does 
meat, and in themselves contain no poisons, 
whereas in the case of meat the fatigue poi- 
sons which are present in the human body were 



18 THE FAMILY FOOD 

also present in the body of the animal at the 
time of slaughter, and serve to surcharge the 
system with the toxins of fatigue and autoin- 
toxication. 

EAT ACCORDING TO YOUR VOCATION 

In determining the quantity of food neces- 
sary for a man doing sedentary work, one must 
bear in mind his particular vocation. The 
clerk whose duties require him to move about 
the office a portion of the time demands more 
food, other things being equal, than his em- 
ployer who sits at his desk throughout the 
day. The traveling salesman gets a good deal 
of exercise in the way of walking, and will eat 
more heartily than the bookkeeper who sits 
astride a stool all day. One must study his 
individual case and arrange his diet accord- 
ingly, though in hardly any occupation which 
can be termed " sedentary " is an excess of 
2,000 to 2,200 justifiable. 

Size and weight of the individual have like- 
wise an important relation to the daily ration, 
but the following table, based upon the results 
of careful experiments, will show approxi- 
mately the number of calories required for 
persons of various heights and weights: 



DIET FOR MENTAL EFFICIENCY 19 



DAILY FOOD REQUIRED FOR MEN OF 
VARIOUS SIZES 



Height Weight 


Calories n 


squired 


Total 


in 


in 


Pro- 




Carbo- 


calories 


inches 


pounds 


teins 


Fats 


hydrates 


required 


62 


1 1 0.0 


165 


378 


1132 


1675 


63 


"5-5 


173 


391 


1 175 


1739 


64 


121.0 


181 


407 


1222 


810 


65 


126.5 


190 


419 


1256 


1865 


66 


132.0 


198 


431 


1292 


1921 


67 


137-5 


206 


442 


1328 


1976 


68 


143.0 


215 


454 


1363 


2032 


69 


148.5 


222 


466 


1399 


2087 


70 


I54-0 


231 


478 


1433 


2142 


71 


159-5 


239 


487 


1463 


2189 


72 


165.0 


247 


499 


1499 


2245 


73 


170.5 


255 


511 


1534 


2300 


74 


176.0 


264 


5-25 


1575 


2364 



DAILY FOOD REQUIRED FOR WOMEN OF 
VARIOUS SIZES 



Height 


Weight 


Calories required 


Total 


in 


in 


Pro- 




Carbo- 


calories 


inches 


pounds 


teins 


Fats 


hydrates 


required 


57 


78-4 


118 


278 


833 


1229 


58 


83.6 


125 


308 


922 


1355 


59 


88.8 


132 


319 


958 


1409 


60 


94.1 


141 


335 


1005 


1481 


61 


99-2 


149 


349 


1045 


1543 


62 


1045 


156 


360 


1080 


1596 


63 


109.3 


163 


375 


1 126 


1664 


64 


1 15-0 


172 


391 


1174 


1737 


65 


120.2 


180 


402 


1208 


1790 


66 


1254 


187 


416 


1249 


1852 


67 


130.7 


195 


428 


1283 


T9o6 


68 


1370 


205 


442 


1327 


1974 


69 


143.0 


215 


454 


1363 


2032 


70 


149.0 


223 


467 


1399 


2089 


7i 


I55-0 


232 


479 


1436 


2147 


72 


161.0 


241 


491 


1472 


2204 



20 THE FAMILY FOOD 

Age likewise influences the individual food 
requirement, the digestive organs of a growing 
boy and of a healthy and active young man 
being naturally more vigorous than in the case 
of a man who has reached maturity. A per- 
son of advanced years should be careful to 
eat those foods which are particularly easy 
of digestion, for it has been found that one- 
eighth of the energy derived from food is 
expended in its digestion, and it is important 
that a man, when he reaches the time of life 
when he does not have a superabundance of 
vital force, conserve as much as possible of 
what he does have. 

RELATION OF SEASONS TO DIET 

Variations with the season are also marked. 
In the more northern climates the vital fires, 
like the fires of our stoves and furnaces, 
burn more briskly during the cold months 
of winter than in the warm months of summer 
when the body requires less heat to maintain 
its temperature. Inasmuch as heat produc- 
tion is an important consideration in a winter 
ration, fats and carbohydrates should usually 
occupy rather a more important place in the 
dietary than is the case in the summer time; 
though to what extent this is true will be de- 



DIET FOR MENTAL EFFICIENCY 21 

termined in each case by the vigor of the in- 
dividual's digestive organs. The mistake 
commonly made by sedentary workers is to 
eat heartily during the cold season of what 
are termed " heavy " foods ; that is, meats, 
peas, beans, and other foods rich in proteins, 
when it is not increased protein that the sys- 
tem craves, but fats and carbohydrates — ele- 
ments furnished in abundance by the vegeta- 
bles and cereals, which are obtainable in 
abundance, if the cellar and larder have been 
prudently stocked with them during the au- 
tumn months. 

In planning a dietary adapted to his par- 
ticular needs, and in working out menus, the 
reader will find the following table of food 
equivalents of practical assistance. Owing to 
lack of uniformity in size of servings * and 
in size and composition of samples of the same 
species of foodstuff (fruit for instance), it is 
impossible to be exact, but the figures as given 
are approximately so, and may be followed 
with the utmost confidence. More precise in- 
formation concerning each food will be found 
in subsequent chapters: 

1 Where the weight or other measurement of the 
serving is not given, the ordinary side-dish serving is 
understood. 



THE FAMILY FOOD 



rood Element Served CaLl 
Apples: 

fresh C. i apple 90 

stewed " 1 serving 70 

Apricot " 1 serving 70 

Banana *• 1 banana (2 oz.) 55 

Beans: 

baked p. 1 serving 20 

string C. 1 serving 12 

Lima P. 1 large serving 20 

Beets C. 1 beet, average size 20 

Beverages: 

grape juice " J4 pint 190 

apple juice " Yi pint 140 

cocoa F. 1 cupful 100 

lemonade C. 1 small glassful 75 

Blackberries, fresh " I serving 50 

stewed " 1 serving 100 

Breads: 

white «• 1 slice 75 

wholewheat " 1 slice 75 

graham « 1 slice 75 

Vienna rolls ........ « 1 large roll 100 

Zwieback ■' 1 slice 90 

toasted wheat flakes . «• 1 serving 100 

toasted corn flakes . . " 1 serving 65 

shredded wheat biscuit " 1 biscuit 100 

oatmeal biscuit (square) jt 2 biscuits 100 
soda biscuits (small 

round) 8 biscuits 100 

Butter F. 1 serving (1 oz.) 100 

Cabbage, creamed C. 1 serving 14 

Cake " 1 serving 170 

Cantaloupe " 1 serving (6% oz.) 70 

Carrots, creamed " I carrot, medium 40 

Cauliflower, creamed .. M 1 serving 15 

Celery C. 1 entire stalk (10 oz.) 55 

Cheese: 

cream P. and F. 1 serving (same size as 

ordinary butter serv- 
ing) 100 

cottage " " ** 1 serving (same size as 

ordinary butter serv- 
ing) 100 
Cherries: 

fresh C. 1 serving 50 

stewed " 1 serving 90 

Cornmeal mush " 1 serving 75 

Corn: 

sweet, canned " 1 serving 100 

succotash P. and C. 1 serving 100 

hominy C. 1 serving 85 

hominy (grits) " 1 serving 65 

1 Abbreviations used in this table: P.= proteins; F.= fats; 

C.= carbohydrates; Cal.= calories. 



DIET FOR MENTAL EFFICIENCY 



Food 

Cranberries 

Cucumber 

Dates 

Eggs: 

scrambled or boiled . . 

poached 

poached on toast . . . 

white 

yolk 

eggnog 

Egg plant 

Fig, fresh or stewed . . 

Honey 

Ice cream 

Lentils 

Lettuce 

Macaroni, with egg or 

cheese 

Milk: 

sweet 

skimmed 

buttermilk 

cream 

Nuts : 

almonds 

Brazil nuts 

cocoanut 

filberts 

hickory nuts 

pecans 

peanuts 

pinenuts , 

nutbutter 



Chief 

Element 

C. 



Served 

i serving 
i serving 
4 dates, large 



F. and P. i egg, large 
« « » j egg) large 
" " i serving 
P. White of i egg 
F. Yolk of i egg 

i serving 

i serving 

i serving 

i serving (4 teaspoons) 

1 serving 

1 serving 

1 serving 



C. 



Oatmeal mush 
Olives: 

ripe 

oil 

Onions 

Oranges 

Parsnips 
Peaches: 

fresh 

stewed 

Peas, green . 
Pears: 

fresh 

stewed 

Pie: 

apple 

custard 

lemon 

pumpkin 
Pineapple .... 
Plums: 

fresh 

stewed 



P. and C. 1 serving 

F. and C. 1 glassful 

P. 1 glassful 

P. and C. 1 glassful 

F. 1 serving (2% 02.) 

" 8 nuts 

" 3 nuts 

" 1 serving (2 oz.) 

" 10 filberts 

" 10 nuts 

" 8 nuts 

" 12 nuts 

" 1 ounce 

" 1 serving (size dairy 

butter) 

C. 1 serving (4*4 oz.) 



10 olives 
1 tablespoon 
1 small onion 
1 orange 
1 serving 

3 peaches 
1 serving 
1 serving 

1 large pear 
1 serving 

1 serving 
1 serving 
1 serving 
1 serving 
1 serving 

3 large plums 
1 serving 



CaL 

i45 

20 

100 

100 

So 

200 

SO 

SO 

50 

55 

140 

100 

100 

100 

20 

100 

150 
IS 
75 

125 

xoo 

IOO 
100 
IOO 
IOO 
IOO 
IOO 
IOO 

IOO 

75 
no 

IOO 

IS 
75 
5o 

IOO 

IOO 

So 

IOO 

95 

16S 
n5 
170 
170 
70 

IOO 

97 



24 



THE FAMILY FOOD 



Food CWef 

xooa Element 

Prunes: 

dried _ c 

stewed "' 

Potatoes: 

baked C. 

boiled " 

mashed " 

sweet potato " 

Raisins, stewed " 

Raspberries: 

fresh " 

stewed " 

Rice: 

boiled " 

puffed " 

toasted rice flakes ... " 

Salad: 

beet " 

fruit " 

potato " 

Soup: 

bean P. 

corn C. and F. 

tomato C. 

vegetable " 

Spinach " 

Squash, baked " 

Strawberries: 

fresh, sugar and cream " 

stewed " 

Sugar : 

cane " 

maple " 

Tapioca custard " 

Tomato: 

canned " 

fresh " 

Turnips, creamed " 

Vegetable oysters " 

Watermelon " 



Served 



CaL 



3 large prunes 
6 large prunes 


100 
zoo 


i potato, 
i potato, 
i serving 
l potato, : 
i serving 


fairly large 
large 

medium 


100 
100 
65 
175 
175 


l serving 
i serving 




5o 
90 


i serving 
i serving 
i serving 




no 
45 
100 


i serving 
i serving 
i serving 




20 
60 
30 


i serving, 
i serving 
i serving 
i serving 
i serving 
i serving 


large 


35 
45 
5o 
25 
50 
40 


i serving 
l serving 




100 
j 00 


i lump 

4 teaspoons 

i serving 


16 

100 
65 


i serving 

l large tomato 

i serving 

l serving 

i serving (8 02.) 


25 
35 
3t> 

25 

100 



HOW TO MEASURE YOUR FOOD 



To plan a day's ration with the assistance 
of these food equivalents, it is necessary 
simply to bear in mind that of the 2,000 food 
units or calories necessary, 300 should be pro- 
tein, 350 fats, and 1,350 carbohydrates. One 
can easily vary his diet with a variation in the 



DIET FOR MENTAL EFFICIENCY 25 

nature of his work. When he is called upon 
to do an unwonted amount of muscular labor 
he can increase the proportion of fats and car- 
bohydrates, as it is these two elements from 
which muscular, energy is generated. When, 
on the other* hand, one is obliged to undergo 
a " siege " of intense mental work, with little 
or no opportunity to take physical exercise, he 
should eat fewer of the fats and carbohydrates, 
without, at the same time, increasing his intake 
of protein. 

NUMBER OF MEALS 

There is a considerable variety of habit 
among sedentary workers with respect to the 
number of meals and the time when they are 
eaten. The demands of business, especially 
in the large cities, make it impossible to dine 
at home for the midday meal, so luncheon is 
eaten at the restaurant and the six-o'clock 
dinner is made the chief meal of the day. This 
plan is ideal in this one respect, that it places 
the main meal at the end of the working day; 
but unfortunately it leaves too little time for 
the digestion of the dinner. So heavy a meal 
as a six-o'clock dinner should have at least 
four hours for digestion, but as this would 
mean an eleven- or twelve-o'clock bed time in 



26 THE FAMILY FOOD 

most cases, we must do the best we can under 
the circumstances, and render the dinner as 
digestible as possible. This we can do by 
choosing the foods which are most digestible, 
and masticating them with absolute thorough- 
ness. From a study of subsequent chapters 
one can select those foods which digest most 
easily — rice and the various other grains, 
fruits, many of the vegetables, etc., and by 
Fletcherzing these until they are reduced to 
a liquid he can make even a six-o'clock dinner 
healthful. 

THE IDEAL MEAL SCHEDULE 

The ideal plan is to breakfast lightly at 
nine or half-past, and dine at four, with no 
subsequent meal or work, for digestion pro- 
ceeds more rapidly when the mind is at rest. 
At the same time a light breakfast, preferably 
of fruits, does not fill the blood with surplus 
food elements which clog the mind, and fer- 
menting, produce early fatigue. 

Many sedentary workers eat but one meal 
a day, taking nothing, or at most an apple, in 
the morning, and eating one meal in the after- 
noon at the end of their period of work. Con- 
venience, dictated by business or social duties, 
determines in most cases the arrangements of 



DIET FOR MENTAL EFFICIENCY 27 

meals, but under no conditions should one eat 
more than three meals. A fourth or fifth 
would be an indulgence of the appetite at the 
expense of the body, and sooner or later a 
penalty would be exacted in the form of dys- 
pepsia, indigestion, gout, or some other dis- 
order of the digestive system. 

Where three meals are eaten, half the total 
number of calories should be divided between 
breakfast and luncheon (or supper, in cases 
where the midday dinner is the chief meal of 
the day) ; and the other half, or 1,000-1,200 
calories, devoted to dinner. If but two meals 
are eaten the breakfast and second meal may 
divide the two thousand calories equally be- 
tween them, or the breakfast may consist of 
but 500 or 600 calories, the dinner consuming 
the remainder. Experience and observation 
of one's own case will determine which of the 
two proportions is the better. 

BREAKFAST — I. 

Calories. 

Peaches, stewed 100 

Wholewheat bread 75 

Butter 100 

Poached egg on toast 200 

Cocoa 100 

Total 570 



28 THE FAMILY FOOD 

BREAKFAST — II. 

Calories. 

Rolled oats 75 

Cream 125 

Vienna roll 100 

Butter 100 

Grape juice 190 

Total 590 

LUNCHEON — I. 

Cheese macaroni 100 

White bread 75 

Butter 100 

Apple pie 165 

Milk 150 

Total 590 

LUNCHEON — II. 

Tomato soup 50 

Potato salad 30 

Graham bread 150 

Butter 100 

Strawberries, stewed 100 

Cocoa 100 

Total 530 

DINNER — I. 

Vegetable soup 25 

Egg plant 55 

Potatoes, baked 100 

Brown gravy 75 

Lima beans 20 

White bread 150 

Butter 100 

Ripe olives no 

Celery 55 

Pears, stewed 95 

Cake 170 

Apple juice 140 

Total 1070 



DIET FOR MENTAL EFFICIENCY 29 

DINNER — II. 

Calories. 

Corn soup 45 

Sweet potato 175 

Milk gravy 100 

Parsnips, creamed 50 

Wholewheat bread 150 

Butter 100 

Tomatoes, fresh 35 

Cottage cheese 100 

Tapioca custard 65 

Almonds 100 

Raspberry nectar 75 

Total 995 



CHAPTER III 

DIET FOR MUSCULAR EFFICIENCY 

The ideal diet for the muscular worker does 
not differ materially from that of the seden- 
tary person — it contains about 3,000 calories 
instead of 2,000, and fats and carbohydrates 
should occupy a more important place, that 
is all. 

To many persons 3,000 calories seem like 
an impossibly small amount of food upon 
which to do a hard day's work. Most people 
eat 4,000 to 4,500 calories, while experiments 
have shown that Maine lumbermen eat often 
as many as 8,000 calories ; and yet the lumber- 
jack protests, as strenuously as does the man 
who eats 4,000 calories, that he does not eat 
too much. Grant, then, that a reduction from 
8,000 to 4,000 is possible in the one case, and 
there is no reason to believe a reduction from 
4,000 to 3,000 is impossible. 

The experience of many of the most phys- 
ically efficient nations in the world have 
shown that a light ration is of all diets the 
30 



DIET FOR MUSCULAR EFFICIENCY 31 

most conducive to muscular strength and en- 
durance. The marvelous virility of the Jap- 
anese, whose soldiers in the late war did some 
of the most strenuous campaigning recorded 
since the days of Caesar, and whose laboring 
classes thrive upon a diet so meager as to 
seem better adapted to a child than to an 
active adult, is proverbial. The natives of 
India likewise are almost indefatigable, the 
agile runners, for instance, covering as many 
as one hundred miles a day upon a sparse diet 
of rice. 

HEAVY DIET UNNECESSARY IN COLD CLIMATE 

It cannot be said in behalf of our heavy diet, 
as opposed to the light diet of the races named, 
that we live in a more rigorous climate, and 
hence must eat more food in order to supply 
necessary heat to the body, for the fact is that 
our heavy diets are made up very largely of 
nitrogenous foodstuffs, when it is the fats and 
carbohydrates, the former particularly, from 
which heat is generated. Pork and beans, for 
example, are the most important features of 
the diet of the Maine lumberman, and both 
are notably rich in proteins. The working- 
man in other trades feels that he " just must " 
have his meat, particularly during the cold 



32 THE FAMILY FOOD 

winter months, when meats do not afford him 
any particular amount of heat in winter nor 
energy at any season of the year. 

Remove from the diet, then, the unneces- 
sary protein and it is a safe venture that the 
ration of most workingmen will not greatly 
exceed 3,000 or 3,500 calories. The amount 
of protein which the system actually requires 
in muscular work is about 118 grams, or ap- 
proximately, 480 calories. These 480 calories 
enter into the construction of the cells, within 
which, as coal within a stove, the fats and car- 
bohydrates undergo combustion and produce 
heat and energy — a process known as " me- 
tabolism." If the cells of the body did not 
wear out, the diet would not have to afford a 
constant supply of protein substances, but the 
life of the cell is very brief, so new cells are 
constantly being made. 

WHEN THE CELL WEARS OUT 

As the cell wears out, the protein of which 
it is made becomes converted into poisonous 
substances, the most deadly of which are what 
are known as " skatol " and " indol." It is 
the function of the kidneys and other ex- 
cretory organs, as we explained in a previ- 
ous chapter, to eliminate these poisons, and 



DIET FOR MUSCULAR EFFICIENCY 33 

pretty busy they are kept at it, too. When a 
vast quantity of proteins is eaten which can- 
not be used in the construction of cells they 
further contribute to the production of these 
poisons until the capacity of the various or- 
gans to eliminate them is overtaxed, so that 
the poisons, unable to leave the body, penetrate 
into every nook and corner of the system and 
cause fatigue, headache, rheumatism, and even 
derange the digestive system by giving rise to 
biliousness, dyspepsia and constipation. It is 
like the great volume of water which backs 
away from a high dam, spreading itself out 
over a wide area of land and forming swamps 
and morasses which breed miasmas and fevers. 
The usual remedy for these symptoms is 
" dope "of some kind, but drugs are utterly 
powerless to effect a cure; they either have 
no effect whatever, leaving the benefits en- 
tirely to the imagination of the sufferer, or 
else they contain opiates which deaden the 
pain without removing the cause. A far sim- 
pler plan is to reduce the daily food ration to 
correspond with the actual needs of the body. 
This remedy is as economical as it is effective, 
for while one is cutting down his meat and 
grocery bills he does not, at the same time, 
contribute to the support of the patent medi- 



34 THE FAMILY FOOD 

cine industry, an industry which both the indi- 
vidual and the nation could very well do with- 
out. 

In conforming one's ration to a 2,000-calorie 
standard, " individual idiosyncrasy," as the 
physician calls it, must be borne in mind. 
Many persons find, on giving the matter a 
test, that 2,800, even 2,500 calories are suffi- 
cient. Metabolism in these cases is very thor- 
ough, every portion of the food being utilized 
in the formation of heat and energy. In 
other cases metabolism is more uneconomic- 
ally performed, valuable food materials being 
excreted as wastes without assisting in the 
production of heat and energy. In these cases 
rather more than 3,000 calories may be neces- 
sary to keep the body in health. These cases 
can, however, in most instances, be made sus- 
ceptible to a still further reduction if pains 
are taken to masticate the food thoroughly 
and thus get it as near ready for absorption 
into the system as possible. Careful observa- 
tion will also inform one as to those foods 
which he digests most readily and with least 
waste, these foods being, as a rule, most com- 
pletely utilized in metabolism. 

Different kinds of muscular work will also 
call for different quantities of food. The 



DIET FOR MUSCULAR EFFICIENCY 35 

less intense the labor the smaller the amount 
of food which the body will demand, from a 
railway section hand, say, with 3,000 or 3,200 
calories, to the less strenuous plumber, or 
painter, who maintains health and working 
efficiency on from 2,400 to 2,800 calories. 

Age is likewise a factor in computing one's 
dietary, since the metabolism of a man well 
on in years is less complete than in a younger 
man, while the elder man is less active about 
his work and so consumes a smaller amount 
of heat in the form of energy. 

SEASONAL INFLUENCES 

Seasonal influences also enter into the prob- 
lem of the working man's diet. The fires of 
the body burn more briskly in the winter than 
in the summer time, just as the hearth fire 
glows brightest on the coldest days, and more 
fuel is consequently necessary. At the same 
time one can easily extinguish the fire on the 
grate by smothering it with coal, and so in 
feeding his vital fires one should remember 
that between eating too much and too little, 
there is little to choose, inasmuch as eventu- 
ally the blaze is put out anyway, and that the 
only true way to healthful feeding is to eat 
just enough. 



36 THE FAMILY FOOD 

COLD DINNERS CAUSE INDIGESTION 

Like the sedentary worker, the muscular la- 
borer must conform the arrangement of his 
meals to the demands of his work. Too 
often, however, the latter is obliged to eat a 
cold midday meal, and thereby loses much in 
the way of palatability, as the result of which 
the glands which secrete the digestive juices 
do not act as freely, and indigestion is apt to 
occur. 

DIGESTION DIFFICULT DURING SLEEP 

The chief disadvantage, though, to which 
the muscular worker is subject is the fact that 
if he takes his dinner at home and makes it 
the chief meal of the day he is obliged to take 
up work again almost before digestion has 
begun, and experiments and individual experi- 
ence have shown that digestion proceeds 
slowly, in some cases almost not at all, when 
the body is performing muscular labor. On 
the other hand, if he eats a lunch at noon and 
a heavy dinner at seven o'clock he must retire 
soon after in order to obtain sufficient sleep, 
and digestion is quite as difficult during sleep 
as during work. 

On this account it is of the utmost impor- 
tance that the workingman choose those foods 



DIET FOR MUSCULAR EFFICIENCY 37 

which combine the greatest rapidity of diges- 
tion with the highest energy-producing value. 
Among the foods which possess these quali- 
fications are rice and the other cereals (par- 
ticularly when masticated), fruits, and most 
of the vegetables. 

THE EIGHT-HOUR DAY AND DIGESTION 

The universal application of the eight-hour 
working day will also be a vast help, as it will 
enable the worker to dine earlier in the even- 
ing and thus allow ample time for digestion 
of the evening meal before he retires. 

With the table of food equivalents as a 
guide the muscular worker can easily plan his 
day's ration of 3,000 calories, allowing the 
fat and carbohydrate foods to predominate to 
the extent say of three-fourths the total num- 
ber of calories. Some latitude is allowable in 
the proportion of fats to carbohydrates, as 
the system can use them interchangeably, mak- 
ing up a deficiency of fats with carbohydrates, 
and vice versa. The following menus are 
merely suggestive, and can be varied in an 
endless variety of ways. Meats are omitted 
for this reason, that they do not conduce (but 
quite the contrary) to the highest muscular 
efficiency, for the reasons given above: 



8 THE FAMILY FOOD 

BREAKFAST — I. 

Calories. 

Toasted corn flakes 125 

Milk 150 

Scrambled eggs 200 

White bread 150 

Butter 100 

Cocoa 100 

Total 825 

BREAKFAST — II. 

Steamed rice no 

Cream 125 

Wholewheat bread 150 

Butter 100 

Cottage cheese 100 

Apples, fresh 70 

Buttermilk 75 

Total 730 

LUNCHEON (midday)— I. 

Eggs, boiled 200 

Sandwich, wholewheat bread and cottage 

cheese 250 

Pears, stewed 95 

Pie, pumpkin 170 

Nuts, filberts 100 

Total 815 

LUNCHEON (midday) — II. 

Beans, baked 40 

Vienna rolls 200 

Butter 100 

Bananas 55 

Tapioca custard 65 

Milk 150 

Total 6xo 



DIET FOR MUSCULAR EFFICIENCY 39 

DINNER — I. 

Calories. 

Tomato soup 50 

Mashed potato 125 

Brown gravy 75 

Spinach 50 

Egg macaroni 100 

White bread 225 

Butter 200 

Cream cheese 100 

Apricots, stewed 70 

Cake 170 

Nuts, pecans 200 

Cocoa 100 

Total 1465 

DINNER — II. 

Vegetable soup 25 

Sweet potato 175 

Milk gravy 100 

Parsnips ioo 

Squash 40 

Potato salad 60 

Wholewheat bread 225 

Butter 200 

Raisins, stewed 175 

Pie, lemon 170 

Pine nuts 200 

Apple juice 140 

Total 1610 



CHAPTER IV 

SHOPPING ECONOMICS 

When we consider the thousands of men 
and women who spend their lives and their 
fortunes in the pursuit of health, and the mil- 
lions of people who lead incompetent and in- 
efficient lives because a state of chronic ill 
health makes then incapable of constant appli- 
cation to their work, it would seem that effi- 
ciency would be cheap at any price. Yet the 
facts are that health and efficiency cost less 
than nothing, for when one cuts down his 
daily ration from 4,000 to 2,000 calories he 
cheapens the cost of living, so far as grocery 
bills are concerned, 100 per cent. Efficiency 
and good health are thus within reach of the 
poorest equally with the wealthiest individual. 

Attention to a few simple points in food 
values will enable the one who does the family 
shopping still further to reduce the food 
budget. 

40 



SHOPPING ECONOMICS 41 



ADULTERATION 

Adulteration is the great bane of the Amer- 
ican housewife. She purchases maple sugar 
for twenty cents a pound because it looks 
cheap, for maple sugar, and 90 per cent, of 
it is cane sugar which cost the adulterator six 
cents. A fancy price is paid for a flour with 
a fancy name, which is in reality an inferior 
flour put through a bleaching process. A mix- 
ture of much oleo and a little daiiy butter, 
ingeniously colored, parades as butter and is 
sold as such. Spices, condiments and flavor- 
ing extracts, all, happily, in no sense essential 
to the support of life, are a favorite field for 
the adulterator, some brands of pepper, for in- 
stance, being compounded of every conceiv- 
able substance, from ground cherry pits to 
pumice stone, with sufficient pepper to add 
flavor. 

These and similar products are substances in 
which the adulterator substitutes an innutritious 
for a nutritious foodstuff. Another class is 
that in which the presence of unsound or in- 
ferior ingredients is covered up by the use of 
poisonous preservatives. A catsup, for in- 
stance, may be made of inferior and decaying 
tomatoes which, because of the preservatives 



42 THE FAMILY FOOD 

which have been added, are never suspected. 
The potted ham and other canned meat prod- 
ucts which in the Spanish-American War 
wrought as much havoc among our men as the 
bullets of the enemy, and which still claim a 
heavy toll in the form of victims of ptomaine 
poisoning, are among this class. Jams and 
marmalades particularly are subject to the 
grossest adulterations. 

THE PURE FOOD LAW 

The federal Pure Food Law has done much 
to protect the consumer, but it has not elim- 
inated adulteration. For one thing, it is de- 
fective in this important regard, that it ap- 
plies only to a product brought from one State 
into another State and sold there. It does not 
protect a consumer from impure foods manu- 
factured in his own State. Labels, also, which 
the law requires shall state the materials which 
enter into the composition of a product, are 
often so ingeniously devised that a positively 
dangerous preparation may appear a perfect 
paragon of wholesomeness. 

In several States pure food and drug laws 
have been enacted which reinforce the federal 
law, and where these are made operative by 
an active State board of health the consumer 



SHOPPING ECONOMICS 43 

may usually feel himself amply protected. It 
is always well to be on the safe side, however, 
and the shopper will find that it pays to select 
foods made by those manufacturers whose 
names are synonymous with purity and clean- 
liness, and who invite the closest scrutiny of 
the conditions under which their products are 
made. Their foods often cost a trifle more 
than a grade put out by an unknown firm, but 
one has the assurance that he is paying for 
value received. 

BULK GOODS ARE NUTRITIOUS 

This does not always apply, however, to 
package goods, which are also sold in the bulk. 
Rolled oats in bulk, for instance, are quite as 
nutritious as those sold in a package under a 
trade name. Even dried peas and beans are 
now sold in package, but nothing is gained 
except that in the case of a reputable packer, 
their freshness can always be relied upon, 
whereas one's confidence in the same product 
in bulk is determined by his confidence in the 
veracity of his grocer. But then, if you can- 
not trust your grocer, by all means get a new 
one, for a dealer who will not guarantee the 
food he sells you has it in his power to do you 
a great deal of mischief. 



44 THE FAMILY FOOD 

Fresh vegetables and fruits should always 
be eaten, or cooked, as soon as possible after 
being gathered, for they rapidly become insipid 
and the processes of decay soon begin, thus 
impairing their value as food and making 
them a possible source of infection. It is par- 
ticularly important that meat be absolutely 
fresh when eaten, for decomposition begins 
immediately after slaughter, and by the time 
it reaches the consumer is far advanced, only 
to continue in the alimentary canal the man- 
ufacture of toxins which, like the fatigue 
poisons which we have already described, are 
absorbed into the system and give rise to head- 
ache and many other symptoms of autointoxi- 
cation. 

CHOOSING CUTS OF MEAT 

The various cuts of meat also offer a wide 
field of economic study for the housewife. A 
cheaper cut of meat, it should be remembered, 
may be composed largely of bone, thus con- 
siderably increasing the price paid for the 
edible portion. It may be an economy in such 
cases to purchase a more expensive cut, though 
pound for pound of edible portion there is 
little difference in nutritive value. The fol- 
lowing table gives the proportion of bone and 



SHOPPING ECONOMICS 45 

other wastes in the various cuts of meat, and 
the net price which one pays for a pound of 
edible meat: 

NET COST OF EDIBLE PORTION OF DIFFER- 
ENT CUTS AS COMPARED WITH A GIVEN 
MARKET PRICE PER POUND. 



o 

o 
a 



fig 

c o 



Kind of meat 'S o" 

Per cent. 
Beef: 

Brisket 23.3 

Rump 19.0 

Flank 5.5 

Chuck rib 53.8 

Porterhouse 12.7 

Neck 31.2 

Ribs 20.1 

Round 8.5 

Shin 38.3 

Heart 5.9 

Tongue 26.5 

Veal: 

Cutlets 3.4 

Breast 24.5 

Mutton: 

Leg 17.7 

Chops 14.8 

Foreq'ter, stewing. . . 21.2 

Pork: 

Loin 19.3 

Salt pork 8.1 

Bacon 8.7 

Ham 12.2 



Assumed mar 
ket price pei 
pound 


Net price pel 
pound of edi- 
ble portion 


Cents 


Cents 


7.0 


9.0 


10.0 


12.5 


7.0 


7-5 


10.0 


22.0 


20.0 


23.0 


7.0 


10.0 


15-0 


20.0 


150 


16.0 


3-0 


5-o 


5.0 


5-3 


22.0 


29.8 


20.0 


21.0 


12.5 


17.0 


15-0 


18.0 


ISO 


17-5 


12.5 


20.0 


ISO 


20.0 


12,5 


130 


20.0 


22.0 


20.0 


23.0 



46 THE FAMILY FOOD 

In the third column it will be observed that 
porterhouse, veal cutlets, bacon and ham are 
the same price per pound. Of the three, how- 
ever, veal cutlets are cheapest, for there is but 
3.4 per cent, waste, whereas porterhouse has 
as high as 12.7 per cent. 

Again, beef ribs and round steak, leg and 
chops of mutton, and loin of pork are each fif- 
teen cents a pound. Of the five, round steak 
is cheapest, having but 8.5 per cent, of waste; 
while beef ribs, with 20.1 per cent, of waste, 
are the most expensive. These and other 
comparisons which the reader can make for 
himself show how important it is for one to 
avoid paying for more waste than is neces- 
sary. 

MEAT AN EXPENSIVE FOOD 

In these days of high costs in food the con- 
sumer should study once more the item of meat 
in the daily menu. 

Meat is at best an expensive source of nu- 
trition, when compared with non-meat foods. 
Some calculations made by the government to 
determine the actual cost of energy when pro- 
duced by various foodstuffs gave the remark- 
able, almost startling, results shown in the 
following table : 



SHOPPING ECONOMICS 47 

COST OF 1,000 CALORIES OF THE COMMON 
ARTICLES OF FOOD AT STORE PRICES. 

Price per Cost of 1,000 

Kind of food pound calories 

Cents Cents 

Codfish, fresh 10 46 

Halibut, fresh 18 38 

Dried beef 25 32 

Eggs, 24 cents a dozen 16 26 

Sirloin 25 25 

Mutton, leg 20 22 

Codfish, salt 7 22 

Beef, shoulder clod 12 17 

Smoked ham 22 13 

Canned salmon 12 13 

Mutton chops 16 1 1 

Milk, 6 cents per quart 3 10 

Roast pork, loin 12 10 

Cheese 16 8 

Turnips I 8 

Butter 25 7 

Rice 8 5 

Wheat bread 5 4 

Wheat breakfast foods 7.5 4 

Rye bread 5 4 

Oat breakfast foods 7.5 4 

Beans 5 3 

Potatoes, 60 cents per bushel . . . 1 3 

Sugar 6 3 

Oatmeal 4 2 

Wheat flour 3 2 

Corn meal 2.5 2 

The reader will gather, from the prices in- 
dicated, that the table was compiled in that 
glorious era when " food barons " and their 
consciences had not yet parted company. It 
was, as a matter of fact, published in 1902, 
but the fact that it is the meat products which 
have most rapidly jumped up in price only 



48 THE FAMILY FOOD 

accentuates the fact which we have already 
pointed out: that day in and day out, the man 
who buys his muscular and mental energy in 
the form of meat is paying double, a con- 
servative estimate, the amount of money paid 
by the man who invests his in non-meat foods. 
This is a consideration that no family of lim- 
ited income can afford to overlook. 

DIGESTIBILITY AN ECONOMIC FACTOR 

The digestibility of a foodstuff has also a 
direct bearing on household economy. A food 
which is difficult of digestion yields up to the 
system a minimum of nutrition. An easily 
digested food, though it costs a trifle more, 
will be the more economical food of the two. 
So far as meats are concerned, experiments 
conducted by the federal government show 
that there is very little difference between the 
various cuts of meat or the meat of various 
animals with respect to the thoroughness or 
the ease with which they are digested. Vege- 
tables and other non-meat foods vary consid- 
erably in their digestibility and assimilability, 
a variability which is always lessened, how- 
ever, by thorough mastication. In subsequent 
chapters the digestibility is considered along 
with other features of various foodstuffs. 



SHOPPING ECONOMICS 49 

FILL THE CELLAR IN AUTUMN 

In the summer time the prudent shopper 
takes thought for the winter. Mason jars and 
the cellar are at one's command, and by utiliz- 
ing them to the fullest extent one can often 
effect a saving of 20 to 30 per cent, in the 
year's grocery budget. Two or three varie- 
ties of apples should be put away to give va- 
riety of flavor, one being a variety which will 
keep well into the early spring — even the 
despised Ben Davis is welcomed in February 
and March. Potatoes and other roots are 
cheaper by a long way in the fall than during 
the spring, and provided the cellar is dry 
and light, and kept at the proper temperature, 
they will keep without difficulty. 

WHAT AND WHEN TO CAN 

Many of the green vegetables, such as peas, 
string beans, beets, etc., can be canned in the 
home as easily as fruit, and a considerable 
sum saved over the price of tinned goods. 
The following recipe for canning string beans 
applies in principle also to beets and peas: 

Wash and string enough beans to fill a 
quart jar. Cook in two and one-half cups of 
boiling water until tender. Place at once in 



50 THE FAMILY FOOD 

a sterilized jar and fill almost full with the 
water in which they were cooked. Place the 
lid without the rubber on the jar, but do not 
tighten. Set the jar in a shallow pan with a 
little water in it and place in a moderate oven. 
Increase the heat until the water in the jar has 
reached the boiling point, which will be in 
about twenty minutes. Then remove from 
the oven, being careful not to expose to drafts 
or to wet objects. Lift the lid and quickly 
adjust a new rubber and fill the jar to over- 
flowing with the boiling water in which the 
beans were cooked, or, if none remains, use 
clear boiling water, and screw on the sterilized 
cover. Tighten the cover from time to time 
as the jar cools. 

Fruit for canning should be ripe and as near 
perfect as possible. Green fruits require a 
great deal of sugar to make them palatable, 
whereas fruits left to ripen on the trees have 
their acids changed into sugar by the activi- 
ties of the sun. This represents a decided 
economy. 

To provide against possible sickness, do not 
forget a few jars of fruit juices. A good 
variety of juices will be afforded by beginning 
early in the season and putting up a jar of each 
kind. The fruit should be washed and 



SHOPPING ECONOMICS 51 

stemmed and put into a granite or aluminum 
kettle, without water, and allowed to heat 
slowly on the back of the stove or on an as- 
bestos pad. When the skins are broken and 
the juice escapes, bring to a boil and then put 
into a jelly bag and drain without squeezing. 
To a quart of juice add from one-half to one 
cup of sugar. Heat to boiling and can as for 
other fruit. The pulp may be rubbed through 
a fine colander, reheated, sweetened, and made 
into marmalade. 

TABLE WASTES 

All these precautions are useless, however, 
unless economy is used in the serving of food, 
and table wastes are guarded against. A gov- 
ernment agricultural station conducted a series 
of observations made in the case of a family 
of eight — one man, one woman, four boys 
and two girls — and covering a period of three 
weeks, during which time all kitchen and table 
refuse and wastes were carefully collected and 
analyzed. Altogether there were collected 
95.96 pounds of material, of which about 
seventy pounds was vegetable matter. The 
composition of this material and the amounts 
which would be collected in one year at the 
above rates are reported as follows: 



52 THE FAMILY FOOD 






y u2 
Kind ~u fc g«f. | 

H ^ £ h < O c d< * Ph 

Per P*?r P*r Per Per Per 
Pounds ct. ct. ct. ct. ct. ct. 

Vegetable 1208.31 84.46 0.22 1.83 13.71 0.12 0.54 

Animal (mostly) . 455-00 58.70 13.68 9.78 31.52 2.74 0.30 
Whole product ..1663.31 77.42 3.90 4.00 18.58 0.84 0.47 

In addition to the above figures there was 
0.30 per cent, nitrogen waste for the vegeta- 
ble material, and 1.64 for the animal ma- 
terial. 

At this rate it is estimated that there would 
be gathered from 20,000 people about 2,080 
tons of garbage each year, with an analysis 
and value equal to good barnyard manure. 
By treating with suitable solvents and drying 
the residue there could be secured 388.5 tons 
of fertilizer, worth $14.69 per ton, and over 
81 tons of grease, which sells for an average 
of $70 per ton wherever this system is in op- 
eration. The total population of the cities- 
and towns of New Jersey is approximately 
918,722, and the garbage of this number of 
people would amount to 95.516 tons per an- 
num, from which could be manufactured 17,- 
848 tons of tankage, worth $262,180, and 



SHOPPING ECONOMICS 53 

3,726 tons of grease, worth $260,800, a total 
of $522,980. 

There are several remedies for this appall- 
ing waste. In the first place do not cook too 
large a variety. Besides being more health- 
ful, a meal composed of a few simple dishes 
is more likely to be entirely eaten than one 
where many of the foods are scarcely touched. 
At the same time, do not cook too much of 
any one kind of food. A careful study of 
the caloric value of the various foodstuffs at 
one's command, and of the food requirements 
of the various members of the family, will 
enable the housewife to judge quite accurately 
the amount of food which she must cook for 
the various meals. 

Table waste can also be vastly reduced by 
combining left-over foods into tasteful and 
nutritious dishes for a subsequent meal. Po- 
tatoes, for instance, can often be made into a 
salad which, with a dressing, makes a capital 
dish. Other vegetables can be utilized in 
soups, bread and rice puddings — there is al- 
most no food, in fact, which it will not pay 
to save. 



CHAPTER V 

HYGIENE OF THE KITCHEN 

Without absolute cleanliness in the kitchen 
and pantry, where foods are cooked and kept, 
precautions in the selection and preparation 
of food are not of the least avail. The in- 
gredients of a salad may be in perfect condi- 
tion, and purchased in the most spotless of 
stores, and every effort made to have them 
hygienic, yet if they are prepared in utensils 
which swarm with germs, and the salad be- 
fore serving is placed in an unclean ice-chest 
or pantry, the shopping could as well have 
been done in a corner grocery where cleanli- 
ness is conspicuous by its absence. 

KITCHEN WASTES 

One of the most important problems which 
confronts every housewife is the disposal of 
kitchen wastes. Garbage should be removed 
from the kitchen as fast as it accumulates. 
The farmer's wife has solved the problem by 
emptying her sewage into the " swill pail " on 
54 



HYGIENE OF THE KITCHEN 55 

the back porch, and feeding it to the hogs, 
while the consumer, in turn, eats the garbage- 
fed hogs. In the large cities house-to-house 
collection of kitchen wastes is made by the 
municipality. Even in this case care should 
be taken to keep the receptacles from the win- 
dows and doors of the house, as odors and 
fumes from the decaying mass are easily 
wafted in by every breath of air. Sprinkle 
frequently a little chlorid of lime or other dis- 
infectant in the garbage receptacle, and thus 
keep down as much as possible the production 
of germs. 

BURNING THE GARBAGE 

Where a range is used, one of the most hy- 
gienic and practicable means of disposing of 
kitchen refuse is to burn it, small quantities 
at a time, within the stove, just between the 
top of the oven and the back lids. Here it is 
reduced to ashes, while the stove draft carries 
all odors into the chimney. 

Another method which has proved success- 
ful is to place in the stovepipe an enlarged 
joint, within which a coarse-wire screen has 
been attached, access being afforded by an 
aperture opened and closed by a slide. Wastes 
placed upon this screen are soon dried up, 



56 THE FAMILY FOOD 

ashes, at most a charcoal which can be burned 
in the stove, remaining. 

KEEP THE SINK CLEAN 

And of all places, garbage should not be 
allowed to accumulate in the sink and force 
the housewife, bending over her work, to in- 
hale the fumes which rise from the decaying 
mass. An aid to a clean sink is a small wire 
basket which is made to hang in a corner of 
the sink. It must be frequently emptied of 
its contents and scalded, however, else it does 
as much harm as good. The sink itself should 
be given a frequent scrubbing with hot soap- 
suds, which are a good germicide, or a com- 
mercial disinfectant, such as chlorid of lime, 
or washing soda. Diluted ammonia is like- 
wise valuable for this purpose, as also in the 
cleaning of ice-chests. 

For a refrigerator no less than a sink must 
be frequently cleansed — thoroughly scrubbed 
inside and out, ice compartment and food 
compartments, at least once a week, and the 
shelves, upon which food particles tend to col- 
lect and decay, three times a week. For this 
tri-weekly cleaning, soapsuds or washing soda 
may be used, first removing the shelves, if they 
are detachable, placing the food in a clean spot 



HYGIENE OF THE KITCHEN 57 

and covering with clean linen during the 
process. 

CARE OF THE REFRIGERATOR 

For the more thorough overhauling, use a 
brush with stiff bristles, which penetrate the 
crevices and scour the surface of the com- 
partments of all adhering substances. Am- 
monia, diluted with water, should be used for 
this purpose, applying a solution of bicarbon- 
ate of soda, if desired, to overcome the pun- 
gent odor of ammonia. 

Flush the drain pipe carefully with the am- 
monia water, and scald the pan, where a pan 
is used, once a day. A collecting tank lo- 
cated in the cellar and connected with the ice- 
chest by a long drain pipe, has this drawback, 
that being in the cellar it is more difficult to 
cleanse than a pan, and is apt to be overlooked. 
The ideal drain is one which is fed by a short 
pipe into the sink. The shortness of the pipe 
adds to the thoroughness with which the flush- 
ing is done — and as the sink is frequently 
scalded anyhow, the labor in connection with 
the drain is reduced to a minimum. This ar- 
rangement is possible in many built-in sinks, 
and in new houses may be especially provided 
for in the plans. 



58 THE FAMILY FOOD 

In choosing refrigerators, cleanliness at the 
expense of a minimum of work should be 
sought, and this combination is found in the 
easily cleansed porcelain and glass lined chests. 
The tiles and the glass, it is true, often crack 
and become the harboring place of germs, but 
the danger of cracking may be lessened in the 
case of the wood-bound refrigerator by plac- 
ing it where the wood will not be subject to 
the warping influence of an alternate dry and 
damp temperature. 

HOW TO COOL DRINKING WATER 

A pure ice supply is as important a matter 
as the refrigerator itself. Freezing does not 
destroy all the bacteria which abound in every 
open body of water, and many a malignant 
disease has been traced from the outbreak back 
to the infected water of a lake or pond whence 
the community's ice had been taken. On this 
account never attempt to cool water for drink- 
ing purposes by placing in it the ice, but pack 
the ice around the outside of the water recep- 
tacle, within a second larger receptacle. 
There are several varieties of water coolers 
upon the market based upon this principle. 
Ice manufactured from distilled water is likely 



HYGIENE OF THE KITCHEN 59 

to be germ free, and so is not subject to these 
objections. 

Ice is often brought to the door covered 
with filth, incident to packing in the ice-house 
and to delivery. Before placing it in the re- 
frigerator, therefore, insist that the ice-man 
rinse each block at the door with a dash of 
cold water. 

But if infected ice is a source of danger, 
what shaU we say of the water supply? 
Drinking water vies with the house-fly as a 
producer of typhoid fever and malaria, and 
were diseases named according to their cause 
instead of the symptoms which they produce, 
we should find that the mortality from 
" drinking-water disease " exceeded that of all 
other diseases, except those due purely to di- 
gestive disorders. 

A deep driven well, indeed, is practically the 
only water supply which is approximately free 
from germs and contamination, shallow wells 
containing much impure surface water and 
frequently the filth of cess-pools and out- 
houses; springs often being polluted in their 
underground courses; rain water during the 
descent from the clouds collecting dirt from 
the atmosphere ; and public supplies from lakes 



60 THE FAMILY FOOD 

and rivers being approximately pure only when 
passed through filtration plants. 

METHODS OF STERILIZATION 

In any event, cultivate an attitude of con- 
stant suspicion toward your drinking water, 
and observe an eternal vigilance by rendering 
it germ free so far as lies within your power. 

Boiling is the simplest form of sterilization, 
but this is impracticable for larger quantities 
than are required for drinking purposes, and 
has the additional disadvantage that boiled 
water tastes flat and insipid. The taste may 
be improved, however, by pouring the water 
several times from one vessel to another until 
it has become aerated. Be careful to do this 
in a clean room, else the water will become 
infected with the germs which always abound 
in a dusty room. 

Filtered water is seldom satisfactory for 
the reason that few niters are hygienic — 
even safe, we might say. Most filters become 
infected by the very impurities which they are 
constantly removing from the water, and yield 
a product which is more dangerous than the 
water before it entered the filter. The small 
" faucet filters " are on this account positively 
dangerous. 



HYGIENE OF THE KITCHEN 61 

A filter should be so constructed that every 
part can be easily cleansed and the filtering 
material frequently renewed, and it should be 
incapable of transmitting to the water metal- 
lic, putrefactive and other impurities. 

The only filters which meet these and also 
the more obvious requirements of cleanliness 
— such as strength of the filtering medium 
and sufficient rapidity of water flow — are the 
Pasteur-Chamberland and the Berkfeld, along 
with others based upon the same principle. 

The small stills in household use are open 
to many of the same objections which we have 
cited against the filter, the metal and other 
parts often imparting to the water impurities 
which offset their beneficent effects. 

PURIFY THE WATER SUPPLY 

The remedy for infected water is prophy- 
lactic in nature — the supply itself must be 
purified. In the case of the municipal supply 
this means the installation of an improved 
filtration plant; if the supply is a private pump, 
the well must be dug deeper if the danger lies 
in surface water; if it lies in the contiguity to 
a cess-pool or stable or other outbuildings, 
either the buildings should be removed to a 
greater distance from the well, or a new well 



62 THE FAMILY FOOD 

should be sunk. Where a spring is used as 
the water supply and it becomes infected, the 
well should be driven in such a location as to 
avoid if possible the underground courses 
which connect with the infected springs. 

THE PURE MILK PROBLEM 

With the water problem we associate in our 
mind the milk question — not, we may add, 
because of the proverbial inability of the dairy- 
man to distinguish between the two, but be- 
cause an infected supply is in each case so seri- 
ous a matter. Milk, however, is more uni- 
versally contaminated than water, particularly 
with disease germs. 

Pure milk can be produced from a healthy 
herd, provided precautions are taken by the 
dairyman to exclude filth at every stage of the 
process from cow to consumer, but eternal 
vigilance is an expensive commodity, and in 
the case of " certified milk " x the expense ul- 
timately falls upon the consumer in the form 
of an additional two to four cents a quart. 
But then, pure milk is cheap at any price, and 
it must never become true with respect to 

1 The various methods which have been devised for 
the purpose of purifying milk and insuring to the custo- 
mer a clean product are presented in Chapter XIII. 



HYGIENE OF THE KITCHEN 63 

milk as has been said of water, that the " prob- 
lem has become not how to insure a clean 
supply, but how to render it even safe." 

In the ice-box milk should be closely cov- 
ered so that germs from impure ice or from 
possibly tainted food or unclean fruit may 
not gain access to it. Cooked vegetables and 
other strongly flavored food readily impart 
their odors to milk and cream, and for this rea- 
son in an ice-chest dairy products should be 
kept in a compartment by themselves. 

DISINFECTING FRUITS AND VEGETABLES 

Danger from contaminated fruits and salad 
plants may be minimized by making use of 
the following disinfectant: one part of hy- 
drogen peroxid to one hundred parts of wa- 
ter. Wash the fruit and plants in this solu- 
tion after they have been previously cleansed 
from dust and coarse dirt. Sometimes to in- 
sure one's self a clean fruit and vegetable sup- 
ply it is advantageous to confine one's custom 
to a single source — a farmer whose products 
are known to be above reproach, as regards 
infection, or a merchant who buys from a pro- 
ducer whose wares he knows to be clean. 
Disease germs often find in soil a splendid 
medium for their development, passing on into 



64 THE FAMILY FOOD 

green vegetables, which in turn convey them 
to the consumer, and here, as has occurred in 
several recorded instances, they produce dis- 
ease infection. Some farmers are also care- 
less in the picking and handling of fruit and 
allow it to become polluted with filth and dis- 
ease germs. Strawberries and raspberries, 
for instance, are often picked by persons with 
acute skin diseases, while at the same time 
there is no law to forbid a consumptive from 
gathering the grapes which you eat at lunch- 
eon, and expectorating about the fruit as it is 
being crated for hauling to market. 

DESTROY THE FLIES 

All foodstuffs should be carefully pro- 
tected from flies and other insects, both on 
display in the store and in the home. Screens 
were devised, of course, for the purpose of 
keeping out flies, but they nevertheless gain 
access to the house and sow the seeds of 
typhoid and other disease in our food and 
drink. Fly paper should be distributed about 
the room in liberal quantities — the sticky 
kind, for a fly laid out by means of the poison- 
ous paper may cause a lot of mischief if it 
drops in a jar of milk, for instance, and there 
deposits a load of germs which he has been 



HYGIENE OE THE KITCHEN 65 

carrying about with him. There is also a fur- 
ther danger that small children may drink of 
the poisonous fluid and succumb to its effects. 

COCKROACHES AND OTHER VERMIN" 

Cockroaches, if kitchen conditions favor 
their development, are almost ineradicable, 
and are more loathsome even than the flies, 
and almost as dangerous* A cockroach will 
not thrive, however, in a light and spotlessly 
clean kitchen, and if they gain access to your 
cupboard shelves take it as a hint that soap 
and water are needed, and set about applying 
them with a will. Few of the preparations in 
the market can be compared with this simple 
method for effectiveness. Powdered borax 
sprinkled freely about the shelves and in the 
cracks will also free your cupboard of roaches. 

Mice and other vermin about a kitchen are 
a menace to the health of the home. Sound, 
well-built floors and walls are an important 
factor in rendering a kitchen vermin proof, 
and go a long way toward making it germ 
proof. 

WALL AND FLOOR COVERINGS 

A rough wall paper and a floor full of wide 
cracks are ideal breeding places for germs. 



66 THE FAMILY FOOD 

The most hygienic form of wall treatment in 
the kitchen is a tiled surface. Where the cost 
of this makes it prohibitive, use an oiled paper 
or a paint, either of which can be frequently 
scrubbed and kept free of germs. 

Tiles are likewise the ideal floor covering, 
but a closely matched floor of oak or Georgia 
pine, painted or varnished, and kept scrupu- 
lously clean, answers the demands of hygiene 
very satisfactorily. Linoleum is unobjection- 
able if pains are taken to lay it so that the 
joints are perfectly made, with no cavities to 
collect germs and other filth. 

THE FUEL PROBLEM 

Fuel is not a vitally important kitchen prob- 
lem, provided one is careful in the case of 
wood and coal to minimize the production of 
dust. If a coal range is used the coal should 
be fed direct to the stove from the scuttle 
rather than from a kitchen box previously 
filled, as one handling of the fuel is thus saved, 
and every handling means the production of 
dust. Where wood is used a well-constructed 
wood box with a close-fitting cover should be 
placed as near the stove as possible. 

When gas or gasoline is used the poisonous 
fumes which rise from the flame make thor- 



HYGIENE OF THE KITCHEN 67 

ough ventilation imperative. In planning the 
new house make certain that the kitchen is 
provided, with windows on opposite sides of 
the room to allow of a cross-circulation of 
air. In kitchens already built, and where 
these conditions do not obtain, a register simi- 
lar to those used to admit furnace heat into a 
room may often be introduced into the ceiling 
and roof, so protected without as to shelter 
the opening from rain and snow. The heated 
air, carrying the heated odors with it, rises 
and escapes, while the fresh air rushes in and 
takes its place. Thus a constant current of 
air is maintained, and the kitchen is made a 
habitable work shop instead of being a dark, 
stuffy corner which a kitchen was wont to be 
in the olden days. 

DISH CLOTHS AND DISHES 

And what shall we say of dish cloths and 
cooking utensils ? Than the dish cloth, as used 
in the ordinary kitchen, nothing can be more 
filthy. It is the hold of everything unclean 
and hateful. This is the more deplorable be- 
cause it is so unnecessary, when with a little 
extra care a fresh cloth could be provided for 
each dish-washing operation. If this does 
require too much work, then rinse it out, using 



68 THE FAMILY FOOD 

clean hot water and soap each time it is used, 
and hang away in a clean, unexposed place, 
-preferably in the direct sunlight. 

Chipped earthen- and glassware are also 
favorite resorts of germs, and should be given 
particular attention with strong soapsuds when 
dishes are washed. Even then, one cannot be 
sure that she has destroyed all the germs which 
lurk in the cracks and crevices of the utensil, 
hence it is always advisable to discard cracked 
dishes and replace them with whole ones. It 
is likewise for hygienic reasons that the easily 
cleansed agateware and aluminum ware are 
superior to tinware for cooking purposes, in- 
asmuch as the latter is continually subject to 
erosion and rust, the patches of which form 
an easy lodgment for germs. 



CHAPTER VI 

COOKING 

In primitive times eating was a simple af- 
fair. Nuts, a few wild fruits and vegetables, 
and what meat the forests and rivers yielded, 
quite satisfied the wants of man when he lived 
the simple life in caves. Nothing, not even 
meat, was cooked. The people were as inno- 
cent of all the fine points of cuisine as they 
were of tables and china, chairs and pianos. 

So far as can be ascertained from historical 
records and from the customs of modern un- 
civilized people, roasting was the first form 
of cooking which demonstrated the increased 
palatability of foods when submitted to the 
action of heat. Then there were brought into 
use — the exact chronological order unknown 
— grilling, boiling, stewing, frying, braising, 
baking, and steaming. 

COOKING AN AID TO DIGESTION 

It is more than a mere matter of palata- 
bility, however, the advantages derived from 
69 



70 THE FAMILY FOOD 

cooking one's food. The increased palatabil- 
ity is but a means to an end. Cooking of any 
kind develops in the food certain flavors and 
aromas which please the taste, and thus whet 
the appetite, the stimulated appetite, in turn, 
tending to increase the flow of the gastric and 
other digestive juices. The improved appear- 
ance of food, likewise, has a pyschic influ- 
ence in stimulating the secretion of the diges- 
tive ferments. 

Cooking, moreover, aids digestion by soften- 
ing the food and making it possible for every 
part to come in contact with the digestive fer- 
ments. Meat is an exception to this rule, one 
of its constituents, albumin, coagulating and 
becoming more solid. At the same time, how- 
ever, the meat is rendered less tough, and 
hence can be more easily and more thoroughly 
ground up by the teeth. 

CHEMICAL EFFECT OF COOKING 

Cooking also alters the chemical nature of 
certain meats and starches so that the diges- 
tive action of the saliva and other ferments 
is greatly facilitated. The higher temperature 
at which cooking takes place is often in itself 
a considerable aid to the digestive processes. 

Lastly, the intense heat which is generated 



COOKING 71 

within the food by certain forms of cooking 
has a decided germicidal effect, destroying 
parasites and bacteria which, taken into the 
system alive, might produce serious conse- 
quences. 

BOILING 

The primitive method of boiling water was 
to plunge hot stones into a hollow dug in the 
ground filled with water. At a later period 
utensils began to be used as people acquired 
skill in the making of pottery and metal ware. 

Water begins to boil at a temperature of 
212° F. No amount of additional heat will 
raise the temperature of the water, its only 
effect being to increase the ebullition which 
takes place in boiling water. In making soups 
and broths this commotion has an important 
advantage, in that it tends to soften the meat 
or other foods and thus allow minute parti- 
cles of nutrient matter to escape into the wa- 
ter. When a " thick " or nutritious soup is 
desired, be careful to mince the meat and put 
it into cold water, and bring slowly toward, 
but not quite to, the boiling point. This al- 
lows a large part of the nutrient portions 
of the meat to escape into the soup or broth. 

When a broth is not desired, however, place 



72 THE FAMILY FOOD 

the meat in boiling water for five minutes. 
The sudden contact with the heat of the boil- 
ing water coagulates the outer portions of the 
meat and prevents the escape of the rich salts 
and other substances. Prolonged boiling, on 
the other hand, will too firmly coagulate the 
albuminous substances of the meat and render 
it tough, and it is well after five minutes to 
continue the cooking at a temperature of 165 
to 170 F. This method insures at once thor- 
ough cooking and a tender condition of the 
meat, and retains delicate flavors which other- 
wise would escape into the water. It is for 
this same reason that meat, if very salt, should 
be but partially boiled, the cooking being com- 
pleted by frying or roasting. 

STEWING 

In a stew the object sought is to dissolve 
the nutritive portions of the meat or other 
food in the water in which it is cooked. To 
facilitate this the food should be finely minced, 
thus affording a larger surface for the heated 
water to act upon. In the case of meat, a 
higher temperature also coagulates the albu- 
min lying near the surface, thus preventing 
the escape of the nutrient juices within. To 
avoid this the temperature for stewing should 



COOKING 73 

be low enough to prevent extensive coagu- 
lation — or between 135 and 160 F. 

In stews the cooked food is usually eaten 
along with the juices, or liquor. If, how- 
ever, only the juice is desired, as in soups or 
beef teas, the minced food may be soaked in 
the cold water before raising the temperature 
to the cooking point, as at this low tempera- 
ture the juices pass more readily into the wa- 
ter. The meat which remains intact after a 
thorough stewing of this kind will be found 
to consist of a mass of tasteless fiber, quite 
devoid of any nutritive value. 

Stews consisting of meat mixed with sliced 
vegetables form a digestible and an econom- 
ical dish, since the various ingredients are 
cooked with absolute thoroughness, so that 
little of it passes into the body in an indigesti- 
ble and unassimilable form. At the same 
time, there is little steam to carry into the air 
minute particles of the rich, nutritive juices. 

ROASTING 

Roasting bears a certain similarity to stew- 
ing. In stewing, the food is cooked by being 
broken up in, and coming in contact with, 
water at a cooking temperature. In roasting, 
the food remains intact; and the interior, 



74 THE FAMILY FOOD 

raised to a stewing temperature, is soaked and 
boiled, as it were, in its own juices. 

As in boiling, the albumin near the surface 
of the roast coagulates and prevents the escape 
of the nutritive juices of the interior. These 
diffuse themselves throughout the meat and 
impart a rich flavor to the roast which is 
wanting in a stew or a boiled piece of meat, 
however tender and sweet it may be in itself. 

Be careful to apply the roasting temperature 
at the very beginning of the process, in order 
to produce the coagulated coating, and thus 
lose as little of the fragrant juices as possible. 

After the coating is formed the temper- 
ature may be lowered to 130 F. — poultry 
and veal to 158 or 160 F. — in order to pre- 
vent charring of the surface. The escape of 
meat juices to the surface can be still further 
guarded against by basting the roast with the 
gravy which in spite of the utmost precaution 
will exude in small quantities. This tends to 
lower the rate at which the surface cools, and 
consequently the rate at which it absorbs the 
heated vapor from the interior. Melted but- 
ter or melted fat may be used for the same 
purpose. Baste the smaller and leaner joints 
of meat more frequently than the larger. 

While roasting imparts a more delicate fla- 



COOKING 75 

vor than does boiling, still, on the other hand, 
it makes palatable slightly tainted food which 
by any other cooking process would be unbear- 
able. A leg of mutton, for instance, which 
some people prefer slightly " high," is unpalat- 
able when boiled, though pleasing when 
roasted. 

What has been said of roasting applies like- 
wise to grilling — which in reality is roasting 
on a small scale. 

FRYING 

Frying is in many respects similar to roast- 
ing. In the latter case heat is applied to the 
joint by radiation direct from the flame; in 
the frying process heat is applied by direct 
contact with melted butter, oil, or other fat. 
Also, as in roasting, the sudden application of 
heat hardens the surface and thus prevents the 
escape of the interior juices. 

Because of the quantities of fat which cling 
to the surface, fried foods are apt to be more 
or less difficult of digestion, especially in the 
case of persons whose digestion is weak. 
Compared with other modes of cooking, in- 
deed, frying is the most unhealthful of all 
methods of preparing food. Steaks which 
baking or roasting would make quite whole- 



76 THE FAMILY FOOD 

some, are rendered well nigh indigestible by 
the process of frying. 

The housewife can often lessen the force of 
this objection by employing deeper dishes than 
are ordinarily used, with a quantity of heated 
fat sufficient to submerge the food. This 
closes the outer portion of the food against the 
absorption of the indigestible fat, and reduces 
the outgo of salts and other nutritive elements. 
On this account, while frying is proverbially 
unhealthful, it is at the same time one of the 
most economical methods of cooking food 
from the standpoint of the conservation of 
nourishment. 

BRAISING 

Braise is a preparation of vegetable and 
animal juices in which meat is cooked in a 
covered vessel at a temperature sufficiently 
high, yet not boiling. This method, known 
as " braising," is particularly valuable in the 
cooking of tough meats, also of meat which is 
too fresh or young. The kettle lid is so ad- 
justed as to prevent any considerable amount 
of evaporation. During the cooking the meat 
becomes permeated with the juice of fresh 
vegetables and herbs and does not dry out. 



COOKING 77 

BAKING 

In baking, the application of heat is more 
indirect than is the case with other methods. 
A cooking temperature is created within a con- 
fined space, as an oven, which forms a crust 
or coating upon the surface of the food. 
Through this the heat penetrates, as in roast- 
ing. Meats are apt to acquire a strong odor 
when baked, since the coating is too heavy to 
permit the escape of certain oils which remain, 
and which, saturating the meat, give it a 
strong, unpleasant flavor. 

STEAMING 

For cereals, puddings, etc., no method of 
cooking is superior to steaming. The small 
" double boiler " answers the purpose very 
well, though where the fare is very elaborate 
and a number of dishes have to be prepared, 
the larger steamers, which can be obtained on 
the market in several styles, are of great 
value. 

Nature has a method of her own for cook- 
ing fruits. Unripe fruit contains a large por- 
tion of starch and cellulose, and there is a con- 
centration of its acids. By the action of the 
sun during the ripening process, the propor- 



78 THE FAMILY FOOD 

tion of cellulose is lowered and made more di- 
gestible. By the same process the starch is 
transformed into the various sugars which the 
system can assimilate, and the acids are ren- 
dered dilute. It is the influence of these acids 
on the sugars which produce the pleasing fla- 
vors of the various fruits. There are very 
few fruits which are rendered more appetizing 
and wholesome by artificial cooking. 

THE FIRELESS COOKER 

No kitchen to-day is complete without a 
fireless cooker. During the heated summer 
months it avoids the broiling of the housewife 
over a hot cook stove, and on camping expedi- 
tions it is far more cleanly and convenient 
than the bed of coals and forked limb which 
makes it necessary for someone always to be 
on duty at the tent while the cooking is being 
done. The vast saving in fuel, of course, is 
apparent to everyone, and with most people is 
equal, as an argument in its favor, to its con- 
venience. 

The original fireless cooker came from Ger- 
many and was known as the " hay box." The 
hay box consisted of a wooden box fitted with 
a cover and filled with hay. The food to be 
cooked was first boiled over an ordinary flame 



COOKING 79 

for a few minutes, then transferred quickly to 
a nest hollowed out in the hay, and the lid 
closed tightly. The cooking proceeded slowly 
and evenly, the time required being about 
double that ordinarily consumed on the range. 

THE INSULATED STOVE 

The principle upon which the hay cooker 
was constructed is the retention of heat within 
the food receptacle by means of the insulating 
vacuum which surrounds it and through which 
the heat cannot radiate. The numerous cook- 
ers on the market to-day all conform to the 
same principle, each attaining a more or less 
perfect retention of heat according as the ma- 
terial used in securing insulation is more or 
less effective. In one of the best of these, re- 
tention of heat is secured by means of an in- 
sulating hood which fits down over the utensil 
on a gas burner onto a perfectly flat insulating 
surface. Before the flame is turned out, the 
hood is lowered as close to the flame as is pos- 
sible without interfering with the burning of 
the flame, the interior of the hood in this way 
becoming thoroughly heated. The dropping 
of the hood and extinguishing of the flame 
are simultaneous, so that almost no heat what- 
ever is lost. The baking compartments are 



80 THE FAMILY FOOD 

similarly insulated, and make baking as simple 
a matter as with the old-fashioned oven, and 
infinitely more agreeable, doing away, as they 
do, with the sweltering heat which has driven 
most women to the professional baker and made 
" baking day " little more than a tradition 
among many classes of people. 

THE ALADDIN LAMP 

The fireless cooker is of particular value 
in making stews, thick broths, and other foods 
which require slow cooking. Also valuable 
for this purpose is the " Aladdin lamp," a 
partially insulated stove made in the form of 
a simple iron box, closed in front by a door, 
an aperture in the top connecting with a tube 
to let off any superfluous steam. Around this 
box is a second with top and sides of a non- 
conducting material for the purpose of holding 
the heat, which is generated by a kerosene 
lamp. This lamp raises the temperature of 
forty pounds of meat and fifteen quarts of 
water to 180 F. in seven hours, and the lamp 
can then be removed without producing an ap- 
preciable diminution of the temperature for 
four hours. The inventor has asserted that 
whereas in an ordinary oven two pounds of 
fuel for every pound of food are required, in 



COOKING 81 

his apparatus two and one-half pounds of fuel 
will cook sixty pounds of food, and with a 
daily cost of only one cent per person for a 
family of ten. 

ADVANTAGES OF COOKING BY ELECTRICITY 

Where a slightly increased fuel bill is not 
a matter of grave importance, electricity is 
proving a boon. Electric cooking is so abso- 
lutely clean, so free from fumes and smoke, 
that it can be done anywhere — in the dining- 
room, if it is desired; you can utilize the top 
of your sideboard as a range, or toast your 
bread and cook your morning beverage on 
the table at your side as you eat. 

Electricity at the same time is free from 
heat, and makes of cooking in the summer 
months a positive delight. Withal, cooking 
by electricity is not prohibitively more expen- 
sive than gas. With gas at one dollar per 
thousand feet and electricity at five cents per 
kilowatt, for instance, the electricity is per- 
haps two-thirds more than for the gas; but 
freedom from heat and fumes and dirt which 
it affords makes cooking by current cheap at 
this price. 



CHAPTER VII 

MEAT FOODS 

Meat as a source of food is open to two ob- 
jections: in the first place, lean meats are al- 
most entirely devoid of carbohydrates, the chief 
factor in the production of energy. In the sec- 
ond place, we must remember that in the body 
of every animal, poisonous wastes are con- 
stantly being given off by the wearing down 
of the tissue cells during exertion, just as is 
the case in the human body; these substances, 
consequently, which were in the process of 
manufacture at the moment of slaughter, re- 
main in the meat and are eaten along with it. 
When absorbed into the system their effects 
are the same as those produced by the waste 
substances being given off by cell metabolism 
in the human body. Uric acid, one of the 
chief factors in rheumatism and gout, is al- 
ways present in meat, and for this reason 
physicians recommend persons afflicted with 
these diseases to discontinue its use. 
82 



MEAT FOODS 83 

THE DIGESTIBILITY OF MEAT 

The digestibility of meat varies slightly 
with the kind, and with conditions under 
which the animal was prepared for slaughter, 
with age at slaughter, and with the time that 
has elapsed since slaughter; underfed, ill- 
treated animals yield meat of an inferior qual- 
ity, while the flesh of a young animal is more 
digestible than that of an older one. Meat 
is more digestible when it has been kept a 
day or two after slaughter, though the gain 
in this respect is more than offset by the fact 
that the germs of decay increase at an enor- 
mous rate from the moment death sets in, 
and when taken into the human system tend 
to produce what we have described as " in- 
testinal autointoxication," with its symptoms 
of constipation, headache and biliousness. 
The following table presents the more com- 
mon meat foods in the order of their digesti- 
bility : 

Oysters 

Soft cooked eggs 

Sweetbreads 

Whitefish, boiled or broiled, such as blue 

fish, shad, red snapper, weak fish, 

smelt 



84 THE FAMILY FOOD 

Chicken, boiled or broiled 

Lean roast beef or beefsteak 

Eggs, scrambled, omelet 

Mutton, roasted or boiled 

Squab, partridge 

Bacon, crisp 

Roast fowl, chicken, capon, turkey 

Tripe, brains, liver 

Roast lamb 

Chops, mutton or lamb 

Corn beef 

Veal 

Ham 

Duck, snipe, venison, rabbit, and other 

game 
Salmon, mackerel, herring 
Roast goose 
Lobsters, crabs 
Pork 
Smoked, dried, or pickled fish and meats 

in general. 

Contrary to an idea which has gained more 
or less currency, raw meat is not superior to 
cooked meat in point of digestibility, nor has 
it any particular claims as a medicinal agent. 

BEEF 

Beef is the most universally used of all 
meats. It is, indeed, the only form in which 
meat can be used as a steady diet, as we use 



MEAT FOODS 85 

potatoes and bread. Attempts to eat quail 
or partridge three times a day for thirty days 
have signally failed, the diet creating a dis- 
gust and loathing on the part of the experi- 
menter. 

The nutritive value of the different cuts of 
beef are shown in the following table: 

FOOD VALUE OF VARIOUS CUTS OF BEEF 

Mineral Fuel 
Name of cut Water Protein Fats matter value 

Perct. Per ct. Per ct. Perct. Calories 

Flank 54.5 16.7 24.3 0.8 1,335 

Round 63.0 18.7 8.8 1.0 720 

Loin 53.3 15.9 17.3 0.9 1,025 

Clod 57.9 16.8 9.7 1.0 725 

Plate 46.0 12.7 23.9 0.7 1,245 

Rump 47.3 14.4 19.0 0.8 1,070 

Chuck 54.1 15.3 9.9 0.8 705 

Rib 44.9 13.6 20.6 0.7 1,120 

Neck 46.3 13.9 10.7 0.7 710 

Fore shank . . 44.1 13.1 5.7 0.6 485 

Hind shank .31.3 9.2 4.3 0.4 355 

Beef is undoubtedly the cheapest form of 
meat, when by cheapness the number of calo- 
ries of food value one can buy for a given 
sum of money, and in this respect there is a 
vast difference in the various cuts of beef. 
Fifty cents worth of flank at seven cents a 
pound will yield 9,350 calories, while hind 
shank at four cents gives only 4,418 calories, 
and porterhouse at twenty-eight cents but 



86 



THE FAMILY FOOD 



1,929 calories, as shown by the following 
table : 



« U u> 
O ■" 

Name of cut .n •c 1 ** £ 2.9 

,J2 1, *S 2 'So 

c£?jf.5 pounds pounds 

Flank, for boiling ... 7 7 1.17 

Clod, for boiling .... 10 5 0.84 

Porterhouse 25-28 1.8-2 0.28-0.32 

Sirloin 18-20 2.5-2.8 0.40-0.44 

Brisket, for boiling 8 6.3 0.79 

Round steak 12-16 3.1-4.2 0.58-0.78 

Round steak for roast 12 4.2 0.78 

Chuck, ninth rib roast 12-15 3-3~4.2 0.50-0.64 

Rib, prime roasts .... 18-20 2.5-2.8 0.34-0.37 

Rump, steak 12 4.2 0.60 

Rump, roast 12 4.2 0.60 

Fore shank, soup and 

hash 5 10 1. 31 

Hind shank, soup and 

hash 4 12.5 1. 15 



pounds calories 
1.70 9.350 

0.48 3,588 

0.31-0.34 1,929 
0.43-0.47 2,680 
1-49 7.759 

0.27-0.37 2,115 
0.37 3.012 

0.33-0.42 2,664 
0.51-0.66 3.099 
0.80 4.492 

0.80 4,492 



o.57 
0.54 



4,842 
4,4iS 



The heart and other organs have much the 
same food value as the rest of the carcass, as 
shown by the following table : 



Organs Protein 

Heart 16.0 

Kidney 16.6 

Liver 20.4 

Lungs 16.4 

Sweetbreads 16.8 

Tongue 18.9 

Suet 4.7 

Tripe 11.7 





Carbo- 


Calories 


7 ats 


hydrates 


per lb. 


20.4 




1,160 


4.8 


0.4 


520 


4-5 


i-7 


605 


3-2 




440 


12.1 




S25 


9.2 




740 


81.8 




3,540 


1.2 


0.2 


270 



As a source of food the various organs are 
in no respect superior to other portions of 
the carcass, while at the same time one quickly 



MEAT FOODS 87 

becomes tired of them. For this reason their 
use is very restricted. 

PREPARED BEEF 

Owing to the preserving processes, which 
remove part of the water from the beef, the 
food substance of canned and corned beef is 
more concentrated than fresh beef, and con- 
sequently they contain rather a higher per- 
centage of proteins and fats. 

Canned meats, however, almost invariably 
contain poisonous chemical preservatives, 
often in quantities sufficient to seriously af- 
fect the health. In addition to this the proc- 
ess of decay is apt to take place in the can and 
produce what are known as " ptomaine poi- 
sons," substances which every year are respon- 
sible for a larger number of deaths than some 
of the diseases which we usually label as 
" fatal." 

MEAT JUICES 

The Standards Committee of the Associa- 
tion of Official Agricultural Chemists defines 
meat juice as being the fluid portion of mus- 
cle fiber obtained by pressure or otherwise, 
and capable of a certain degree of concen- 
tration by evaporation at a low temperature 



88 THE FAMILY FOOD 

and containing not less than 12 per cent, of 
nitrogenous, or protein, material. It is upon 
this protein element that the food value of 
beef juices chiefly depends, and because they 
are very deficient in nitrogen, the commercial 
brands of meat juices and extracts yield very 
little nutrition. 

BEEF TEA 

The nutritive value of beef tea is often 
very greatly overestimated. It has been as- 
serted that a pint contains hardly a quarter 
of an ounce of anything. The following is 
one of the methods best calculated to retain 
in the tea the nutritious elements of the beef. 
Tender, lean, raw beef is chopped into small 
pieces about a quarter of an inch in diameter 
and macerated in cold water for five or six 
hours. The water is to be added in the pro- 
portion of a pint to a pound of lean beef; 
ten drops of hydrochloric acid are then added, 
and the solution is gradually heated up to 
160 F., but not more, for from fifteen to 
thirty minutes. This is best accomplished by 
placing the vessel in a second vessel of boiling 
water. The water of the outer vessel com- 
municates its heat to the inner one, but its 
contents prevent its temperature from rising 



MEAT FOODS 89 

to that of the outside water, which is nearer 
the fire. 

A large variety of bouillons and broths, of 
which the following is a sample, can be pre- 
pared for the sick room from vegetables. 
These are more nutritious, quite as pleasing 
to the palate, as meat tea, and at the same 
time they offer a greater variety : 

Pick over and wash a cup of dried peas 
and put to cook in a quart of cold water, 
cook slowly in a double boiler or in a kettle 
placed on the range and allowed to simmer, 
until but a cupful of liquid remains. Strain 
off the broth, add salt, and one-third of a 
cupful of the liquor without pulp, from well- 
stewed tomatoes. Serve hot. 

VEAL 

The various cuts of veal are richer in protein 
than the corresponding parts of beef, but are 
deficient in fats, and wholly lacking in car- 
bohydrates, or the energy-producing element. 
This makes it inferior to beef as an all-round 
food for persons engaged in muscular work, 
while its continued use by sedentary workers 
is likely to supply the system with too much 
protein. The excess of protein overtaxes 
the kidneys and other eliminative organs, and 



90 THE FAMILY FOOD 

so remaining in the system produces poison- 
ous substances which cause constipation, 
headaches, biliousness, etc. The chief value 
of veal lies in the variety which it affords the 
diet. 

PORK 

Pork, like beef, is wholly lacking in car- 
bohydrates, but it contains a high percentage 
of proteins and fats, as shown by the follow- 
ing table : 

Calories 

Cut Proteins Fats per pound 

Chuck ribs and shoulders . . 17.3 31. 1 1,635 

Flank 18.5 22.2 1,280 

Ham (lean) 25.0 14.4 1,075 

Ham (fat) 12.4 50.0 2,345 

Head 13.4 41.3 1,990 

Head cheese 19.5 33.8 1,790 

Loin (chops, lean) 20.3 19.0 1,180 

Loin (chops, fat) 14.5 44.4 2,145 

Loin (tenderloin) 18.9 13.0 900 

Middle cuts 13.3 34.2 1,690 

Shoulder 15.7 36.3 1,825 

Side (including lard and 

other fats) 9.4 61.7 2,780 

Side (not including lard and 

other fats) 9.1 55.3 2,505 

ORGANS 

Brains 11.7 10.3 655 

Heart 17.1 6.3 585 

Kidneys 15.5 4.8 490 

Liver 1 21.3 4.5 615 

Lungs 1 1.9 4.0 390 

Marrow 2.3 81.2 3,4/0 

1 Liver contains 1.4 per cent, carbohydrate. 



MEAT FOODS 91 

So far as the supply of heat and energy- 
producing fats is concerned, pork, supple- 
mented by some carbohydrate food, such as 
cereals, would be an ideal food for the labor- 
ing man. With the above table before him 
he could choose those cuts which were poorer 
or richer in fats, according as his labor for 
the day were more or less strenuous. The 
fact of the matter is, however, that most kinds 
of pork are notoriously indigestible, on ac- 
count of the excessive quantity of fat which 
they contain. The working man describes it 
correctly when he says that " it sticks to the 
ribs." 

Now, an indigestible mass of food in the 
stomach ferments rapidly and gives off poi- 
sonous substances which are picked up by the 
blood-vessels which line the stomach and car- 
ried into the system or passed into the intes- 
tinal canal, where they likewise enter the 
blood and find their way into the system. 
Moreover, parts of this body of fermenting 
food pass into the intestinal canal, until they 
reach the colon, a large reservoir-like enlarge- 
ment of the canal, and there they lie and rot, 
giving off into the system great quantities of 
these poisonous substances known as " tox- 
ins." 



92 THE FAMILY FOOD 

If there is any person who needs a body- 
free from these toxins, it is the man doing 
hard muscular work, for they mean headache, 
chronic fatigue and a constant feeling of 
weariness, restless and unre freshing sleep, 
constipation, biliousness, gastritis, perhaps, 
and catarrh of the stomach, and so reduce the 
vital resistance that the individual falls an 
easy prey to infection of various kinds, such 
as tuberculosis, pneumonia, influenza, etc. It 
is these symptoms, produced by the constant 
use of indigestible foods, which cause prema- 
ture old age in the workingman, and not nec- 
essarily the nature of his work. 

Trichinosis is another disorder which re- 
sults from the eating of pork. It is caused 
by the Trichina spiralis, a small worm which 
becomes imbedded in the flesh of the hog, and 
which later on becomes carried by the blood 
into the human system, where it sets up a 
long list of gastric disturbances which are 
cured only by the most careful treatment and 
which often prove fatal. 

PREPARED PORK 

Owing to the removal of a portion of the 
water in the processes of smoking, pickling, 
etc., the nutritive elements of the various 



MEAT FOODS 93 

forms of prepared meats is more complicated 
than in fresh meats. The accompanying table 
shows the composition of the more commonly 
used meats : 

Calories 

Kind of meat Protein Fats per pound 

Smoked ham (lean) . . 19.8 20.8 1.245 

Smoked ham (fat) .... 14.8 52.3 2,485 
Smoked ham (medium 

fat) 16.3 38.8 1,940 

Pickled tongue 17.1 19.1 1,125 

Pickled feet 16.3 14.8 930 

Salt pork (clear fat) . . 1.9 86.2 3,670 

Salt pork (lean ends) . 8.4 67.1 3,985 

Smoked bacon (lean) . 15.5 42.6 2,085 
Smoked bacon (medium 

fat) 9.9 67.4 3,030 

Deviled ham 19.0 34.1 i»790 

Preserved pork is open to an important 
objection, which we raised against canned 
beef, that ptomaine poisons are often present 
and endanger the lives of those who eat it. 

SAUSAGE 

Sausage, to borrow an old mathematical 
axiom, is as nutritious as the nutritiveness of 
its various constituents combined, and no 
more. 

Aside from the fact that it often contains 
ptomaine, and the objections which hold good 
against meat of any kind, the chief objections 
to sausage are the filthy conditions under 



94 THE FAMILY FOOD 

which much of it is made, and the unwhole- 
some materials used in its manufacture. The 
rigid inspection enforced by many State and 
municipal health boards, and the requirements 
of the Pure Food Law, have lessened these 
dangers to some extent, but the dangers are 
still sufficiently formidable to cause one to 
hesitate before using the product. 

The composition of a few of the common 
sausages is as follows: 

Carbo- Calories 

Sausage Proteins Fats hydrates per pound 

Bologna 18.7 17.6 0.3 1,095 

Frankfort 19.6 18.6 1.1 1,170 

Holsteiner 29.4 37.3 3.4 2,220 

Pork 13.0 44.2 1.1 2,125 

Pork and beef .... 19.4 24.1 .. 1,380 

Wienerwurst 28.0 22.1 4.4 1,485 

MUTTON 

Mutton contains a smaller amount (in some 
cases 4 and 5 per cent, less) of protein 
than beef, but is considerably richer in fat, 
so that it is more nutritious by 25 per cent, 
than beef. This large proportion of fat ren- 
ders it less easily digested, however, than beef. 
Lamb, owing to its large percentage of fat, 
is still more difficult of digestion, and against 
its wide-spread use is the fact of its expen- 
siveness. 



MEAT FOODS 95 

VENISON 

Venison is about as nutritious as lean beef, 
and more digestible when obtained from 
young deer. Dyspeptics, however, find that it 
disagrees with them on account of its strong 
flavor, particularly when, as is usually the case, 
it has been kept for some time. 

POULTRY 

The best breeds of chickens for table use 
are said to be the light and dark Brahmas; 
buff, partridge, white and black Cochins, and 
the white and black Langshans, these varie- 
ties having a larger proportion of meat in 
comparison with the bone, and a large, full 
breast. White meats, we may observe, while 
slightly more digestible than the darker meats, 
are, on the other hand, richer in protein, and 
hence accentuate the danger with which the 
meat-eater is confronted: viz., the danger of 
taking into the system an excess of proteins. 

The white meat of turkey is sometimes as 
easily digested as chicken, but the darker por- 
tion is considerably less digestible. Guinea- 
fowl are easy of digestion when young, as are 
also young pigeons; particularly so is the 
breast of the squab, which may be eaten by 



96 THE FAMILY FOOD 

invalids when no other food can be given. 
Goose and duck, tame, unless young, are hard 
to digest, on account of the large quantity of 
fat which they contain. The composition of 
the various domestic fowls is as follows : 

Calories 

Kind of fowl Proteins Fats per pound 

Chicken 19.3 16.3 1,045 

Chicken (broilers) 21.5 2.5 505 

Goose (young) 16.3 36.2 1,830 

Turkey 21. 1 22.9 1,360 

Duck 18.3 19.0 1,290 

Squab 18.6 22.1 1,430 

GAME BIRDS 

Wild game birds have a high percentage 
of protein (in the case of quail as high as 
25 per cent.), but are wholly wanting in car- 
bohydrates, and contain but from 1 to 2 
and 3 per cent, of fat. The meat of the 
older birds is tough and possesses a strong 
flavor that is unpleasant to most persons. 

Many persons prefer their game in a state 
of greater or less decay, a condition in which 
it is said to be " high." But it is a loath- 
some food at best, and the germs which pro- 
duce the decomposition often work havoc with 
the digestive system, and are a prolific source 
of autointoxication. He who " cannot afford 
game " need not envy his neighbor who eats it. 



MEAT FOODS 97 

EGGS 

Uncooked eggs contain 13.4 per cent, of 
protein and 10.5 percent, fat, with a food value 
of 720 calories to the pound. The yolks con- 
tain 15.7 per cent, protein and 33.3 per cent, 
fat. A dozen eggs usually furnish more nu- 
trition than a pound of meat; in other words, 
with eggs at 25 cents a dozen, ten eggs for a 
family of five persons are cheaper than a 
pound and a quarter of beef at twenty-two 
cents a pound. 

Eggs, especially where the fowls are fed 
and cared for under cleanly conditions, are usu- 
ally freer from disease and decay germs than 
are meats, and this fact, added to their nu- 
tritive superiority, makes them rank as one 
of the most economical of animal foods. Of 
their digestibility a government experiment 
station bulletin (No. 182) says: "The yolk 
of raw, soft-boiled eggs is equally digestible. 
The white of soft-boiled eggs, being semi- 
liquid, offers a little more resistance to the 
digestive juices than raw white. The white 
of a hard-boiled tgg is not generally very 
thoroughly masticated. Unless finely divided, 
it offers more resistance to the digestive juices 
than the fluid or semi-fluid white, and un- 



98 THE FAMILY FOOD 

digested particles may remain in the digestive 
tract many days and decompose. From this 
deduction it is obvious that thorough masti- 
cation is a matter of importance. Provided 
mastication is thorough, marked differences 
in the completeness of digestion of the three 
sorts of eggs . . . will not be found." 

FISH 

Because they contain no carbohydrate, and 
a small percentage of fats, the two energy- 
forming foods, fish are not a good food for 
the muscular laborer. Even the sedentary 
worker, who uses a minimum of energy, 
should supplement them with cereals or other 
carbohydrate foods, and with dairy products 
or other source of fat, in order to balance his 
ration. 

It is a mistaken idea that fish, because of 
the large quantity of phosphorus which they 
contain, are a particularly valuable food for 
brain-workers. As a matter of fact, many 
kinds of fish contain less phosphorus than 
does meat. 

The digestibility of fish is about the same 
as that of meats, though this depends some- 
what on the kind of fish and upon the indi- 
vidual. To some persons fish of any sort 



MEAT FOODS 



99 



are indigestible, while others can tolerate one 
or more varieties. The fish most easy of di- 
gestion are fresh sole, whiting, bluefish, 
whitefish, bass, fresh codfish, halibut, shad 
and smelt. 

Care should be taken to eat fish only in their 
season, as otherwise the flesh is likely to be 
inferior, both in nutritiousness and flavor. 
They should also be used as nearly fresh as 
possible, as the least taint is capable of caus- 
ing severe digestive disorders. For the same 
reason, fish preserved in ice are dangerous, as 
the cold prevents the detection of the odors 
of decay, even when putrefaction has really 
set in. 

The following table will enable one to 
choose from the market the varieties of fish 
most nearly suited to his needs : 



Kind of fish Proteins 

Bass, black 20.6 . 

Bass, red 16.9 

Bass, sea 19.8 

Bass, striped 18.6 

Blackfish 18.7 

Bluefish 19.4 

Catfish 14.4 

Cod 16.5 

Eels 18.6 

Flounder 14.2 

Haddock 17.2 

Hake 7.3 

Halibut 18.6 

Herring 19.5 

Mackerel .• 18.7 





Calories 


Fats 


per pound 


1.7 


455 


o-S 


335 


0.5 


390 


2.8 


465 


1-3 


405 


1.2 


410 


20.6 


1 135 


0.4 


325 


9-1 


730 


0.6 


290 


0.3 


335 


0.3 


150 


5-2 


565 


7-1 


660 


M 


045 



100 



THE FAMILY FOOD 



Kind of fish Proteins Fats 

Mullet 8.2 2.0 

Muskellunge 20.2 2.5 

Perch (white) .... 19.3 4.0 

Pickerel (pike) . . . 18.7 0.5 

Salmon 22.0 12.8 

Shad 18.8 9.5 

Smelt 17.6 1.8 

Sturgeon 18.1 1.9 

Trout, brook 19.2 2.1 

Trout, lake 17.8 10.3 

Whitefish 22.9 6.5 

PRESERVED AND CANNED 

Cod (salt) 25.4 0.3 

Haddock (smoked) 23.3 0.2 

Halibut (smoked) . 20.7 15.0 

Herring (smoked) . 20.5 8.8 

Mackerel (salt) ... 16.3 17.4 

Salmon (canned) . 21.8 12.1 

Sardines 23.0 19.7 

Note: None of these varieties contains 
hydrate element. 



Calories 
per pound 

235 
480 
530 
370 
950 
7SO 
405 
415 
445 
76S 
700 



410 

440 
1020 

750 
1035 

915 
1260 
the carbo- 



SHELLFISH 

Many of the shellfish and crustaceans con- 
tain a considerable quantity of protein, but 
the proportion of fats and carbohydrates is 
low, and at best they are not an economical 
source of food. To many persons, more- 
over, they are a positive poison, producing 
various "forms of stomach trouble, and skin 
eruptions, such as urticaria, and aggravating 
eczema when it already exists. 

The shellfish and crustaceans, moreover, de- 



MEAT FOODS 101 

serve the reputation which they have acquired 
as " scavengers of the sea." They are usu- 
ally secured from waters into which city 
sewage is emptied, and on this filth they feed. 
This is especially true in the case of oysters, 
and oysters are notoriously prolific as typhoid 
conveyers — indeed, the president of one met- 
ropolitan board of health has asserted that 
oysters rank third among the causes of ty- 
phoid. 

The following table presents the nutritive 
value of the various species: 



Kind of sea food Proteins 
Clams (long) in shell 8.6 
Clams (round) in 

shell 6.5 

Clams (round) re- 
moved from shell . . 10.6 
Crabs (hardshell) ... 16.6 

Lobsters 16.4 

Mussels 8.7 

Oysters 6.2 

Scallops 14.8 

Terrapin 21.2 

Turtle 19.8 





Carbo- 


Calories 


T ats 


hydrates 


per pound 


1.0 


2.0 


240 


0.4 


4.2 


215 


1.1 


5-2 


340 


2.0 


1.2 


4i 5 


1.8 


0.4 


390 


1.1 


4-1 


285 


1.2 


37 


235 


O.I 


3-4 


345 


3-5 




545 


0.5 




390 



CHAPTER VIII 

THE CEREALS 

Long before the study of human foods be- 
came a science, bread was called the " staff 
of life " ; and the more exact studies of re- 
cent times have shown the characterization 
to be well founded — for whatever the cereal 
of which it is made, whether wheat, or rye, 
or barley, bread is almost a perfect food. A 
loaf of whole-wheat bread contains 9.7 per 
cent, protein, 0.9 per cent, fats, and 49.7 per 
cent, carbohydrates. It is somewhat lacking 
in fats, but the addition of butter or other oils 
amply supplies this deficiency. 

It is only recently, however, that cereals have 
begun to come into their own, the predomi- 
nance of bread having served to draw attention 
away from the great variety of forms in which 
they can be prepared. But now, with one or 
two exceptions, there is not a cereal which 
cannot be purchased in the market in the form 
of toasted flakes, ready with the addition of 
cream, fruit juices, or sauces, to be eaten. 
102 



THE CEREALS 103 

" BREAKFAST FOODS " 

There is also a growing list of delightful 
breakfast foods for serving in the form of 
mushes, puddings, etc. A large number of 
biscuits, whose nutritive values are varied by 
a combination of two or more cereals, are 
also at the service of the housewife. Bread- 
making has become a science and a fine art, 
and the nicest taste as well as the most deli- 
cate digestive apparatus can be easily satisfied, 
whether the housewife bakes her own bread 
or patronizes the bakery. 

As regards economy, the cereals stand first 
among foodstuffs. The experience of thou- 
sands who joined the recent boycott against 
meat confirms the experiments of the Bureau 
of Chemistry of the U. S. Department of Ag- 
riculture, which show that the purchasing 
value of a given sum of money is from one 
hundred to five hundred per cent, greater 
when spent for cereals than for meat. 

The cereals have also this advantage over 
meat and other classes of food, that there is 
a minimum of waste. The percentage which 
the body cannot digest and assimilate is very- 
small, indeed. 

On account of the advantages which "we 



104 THE FAMILY FOOD 

have named, there is no doubt that the house- 
wife will come to give cereals a more and 
more important place in the family dietary. 

WHEAT 

Wheat is an exceedingly nutritious food, 
a given sum of money purchasing a greater 
quantity of nutritive material from it than 
from any other food except corn. The fol- 
lowing table shows the food values of the va- 
rious wheat flours (the table is based on win- 
ter wheat, spring wheat having a slightly lower 
nutritive value) : 

Proteins 

Whole-wheat 13.8 

Graham 13.3 

Fine white flour . . 10.9 

The reader will observe the advantage 
which the coarser flours have over fine flour 
as regards the total food value. The case is 
different, however, when we come to consider 
the relative digestibility of each of the three 
flours, and the extent to which each is ab- 
sorbed into the body and made use of in the 
manufacture of heat and energy. The case 
of the coarser versus the finer flours has been 
before the world for so many years, that the 
following summary of a series of experiments 





Carbo- Calories 


?ats 


hydrates per pound 


1.9 


71-9 1,675 


2.2 


71.4 1,670 


I.I 


75-6 1,655 



THE CEREALS 105 

conducted by the federal Bureau of Chemistry 
will be of interest, particularly since the results 
coincide with the opinions now held by most 
scientists : 

TESTS OF WHEAT 

Various kinds of wheat were milled so as 
to secure from each three flours: graham, 
whole-wheat and standard patent. The flours 
were made into bread, and the bread fed to 
workingmen, and its digestibility determined. 
It was found that white bread is an exceed- 
ingly digestible food, nearly 98 per cent, of 
the starch or carbohydrate elements and about 
88 per cent, of the gluten or protein constit- 
uents being assimilated by the system. In 
the case of the graham and whole- wheat 
flours, although they contained a larger total 
amount of protein, yet the nutritive elements 
were not as completely digested and absorbed 
by the body as in the case of the white flour. 
The body gained more nutrition from the 
white than from the other grades of flour, 
the digestibility of the three types being: 
Standard patent flour, protein 88.6 per cent, 
and carbohydrates 93.5 per cent.; graham 
flour, protein 74.9 per cent, and carbohydrates 
89.2 per cent. 



106 THE FAMILY FOOD 

The bulletin reporting the experiment says, 
however, that " entire wheat and graham 
flours should be included in the dietary of 
some persons, as they are often valuable be- 
cause of their physiological action, the branny 
particles stimulating the process of digestion, 
and encouraging peristaltic action. In the 
dietary of the overfed, they are valuable for 
the smaller rather than the larger amounts 
of nutrients they contain. For the laboring 
man, where it is necessary to obtain the largest 
amount of available nutrients, bread from 
white flour should be supplied; in the dietary 
of the sedentary, graham and entire wheat 
flour can, if found beneficial, be made to form 
an essential part. The kind of bread that it 
is best to use is largely a matter of personal 
choice founded upon experience." 

This agrees with the results of an experi- 
ment conducted by Dr. Abramowski, a fa- 
mous dietitian, upon himself to determine the 
relative value of whole- wheat and white 
bread, where no other food was eaten and 
where intestinal activity had no other stimu- 
lant than the bread eaten. A five days' diet 
of white bread and water produced headache, 
languor and depression, fatigue, bad breath, 
dry, sticky throat and tongue, and other symp- 



THE CEREALS 107 

toms of intestinal disorder. Final collapse 
occurred during a short bicycle ride. On a 
subsequent diet consisting wholly of whole- 
wheat bread and water he was able to maintain 
strength and vigor. 

BREAD 

A loaf of bread contains more water than 
the flour from which it is made, and this re- 
duces the proportion of its nutrients as com- 
pared with flour. The following table repre- 
sents the food values of three kinds of bread 
from the flours just referred to : 

Carbo- Calories 
Proteins Fats hydrates per pound 

Whole-wheat 9.7 0.9 49.7 1,140 

Graham 8.9 1.8 52.1 1,210 

Fine white flour . . 9.1 1.6 53.3 1,225 

Gautier, one of the foremost dietitians of 
the day, has described a loaf of ideal bread in 
these words : " Good bread ought to be light, 
resounding and well raised. It should give 
a minimum of 2.2. per cent, of a golden 
crust, brittle and difficult to detach from 
the crumb. The latter ought to be elastic 
and to have large cavities in it; if, after the 
bread is cool, it is moderately compressed be- 
tween the thumb and index ringer, the crumb 



108 THE FAMILY FOOD 

should not stick together, but should slowly 
return to its original volume ; it should not 
cling to the fingers which knead it. Good 
bread should absorb a great deal of liquid 
without being dissolved when it is moistened. 
It ought not to rub away under the fingers. 
The color of the crumb ought to be very 
clear yellowish white and slightly translucid ; 
its sweet odor of wheat should recall neither 
sourness, mouldiness nor fermentation. 
Dried in the oven without being baked, good 
wheat bread should not lose more than 36 per 
cent, of its weight." 

After standing twelve to fifteen hours, bread 
becomes " stale," a condition due to chemical 
changes within the loaf. Since about 2 per 
cent, of the water within the bread has es- 
caped, it is not less wholesome, while at the 
same time, it is more accessible to the diges- 
tive juices. 

Many people do not like the crust edge of 
the bread, as also the " heel," yet in discard- 
ing it they throw away the most valuable 
part of the bread, for it is more nourishing 
than the crumb; is more soluble in water and 
richer in nitrogenous matters in the propor- 
tion of one to two. It is also more digesti- 
ble. 



THE CEREALS 109 

GRAHAM BREAD 

Graham bread, on account both of its nutri- 
tiveness and its palatability, deserves being 
known better than it is; hence we venture the 
following recipes : Take one pint of buttermilk 
or sour milk and add one teaspoon of soda, 
one-half cup sugar, one cup flour, one-half 
cup cornmeal, two cups graham flour, one- 
half cup of molasses, and one teaspoon of 
salt. Bake one and one-half hours. 

A soft graham bread may be made as fol- 
lows : Mix the ingredients in the order 
given, adding sufficient warm water to make 
a soft dough — one and one-half quarts gra- 
ham flour, one pint white flour, two teaspoons 
salt, one cake compressed yeast, one-half cup 
molasses, two tablespoons butter (melted), 
about three cups warm water. Beat thor- 
oughly and set in a warm place until it is quite 
light. Then beat down again and fill bread 
pans half full. When light again, put to bake 
in a moderate oven and bake three-quarters 
of an hour to an hour. 

To make cream graham rolls, take one-half 
cup of cold cream, add one-half cup of soft 
ice water. Make into a dough with three cups 
of graham flour, sprinkling in slowly with 



110 THE FAMILY FOOD 

the hands, beating at the same time, so as to 
incorporate as much air as possible, until the 
dough is too stiff to be stirred; then knead 
thoroughly, form into rolls, and bake. 

TOAST AND ZWIEBACK 

Toast and zwieback deserve the universal 
favor with which they are regarded. The 
heat produces chemical changes in the starch 
which makes it more readily absorbed by the 
body. Moreover, toasted bread, like the 
crust, is more easily saturated by the saliva 
and other digestive juices. 

Be careful in making toast and zwieback to 
cut the bread thin enough to allow every por- 
tion of the slice to become thoroughly toasted. 
Otherwise the inner portion will be sticky 
and the toast more indigestible than untoasted 
bread. 

A toothsome toast may be made from light 
dough rolled thin, cut into strips, rolled into 
hollow cylinders and baked in a quick oven. 

CRACKERS 

The nutritive value of the various crackers, 
wafers, etc., on the market is considerably 
higher than that of plain wheat bread, due 
chiefly to the fats and other ingredients which 



THE CEREALS 111 

are used in making the dough. Butter crack- 
ers, for instance, contain 1,935 calories, or 
food units, to the pound, 10.1 per cent, being 
fat, 71.6 carbohydrates, and only 9.6 nitrog- 
enous materials. Soda crackers give much 
the same analysis, while vanilla wafers, with 
2,045 calories to the pound, contain only 6.6 
protein, 14 per cent, being fats and 71.6 car- 
bohydrates. 

TOASTED WHEAT FLAKES 

Wheat in the form of toasted flakes is in 
many respects an ideal food. It is exceedingly 
nutritious, and when thoroughly chewed is 
easily digested. In fact, people with weak 
digestion who cannot eat meat and other 
" solid " foods without discomfort find that 
wheat flakes agree perfectly with them. 

For most persons engaged in sedentary 
work, a bowl of flakes, with cream or fruit 
juice of some kind, and with a cup of warm 
drink, will form an ample and at the same 
time a delightful breakfast. Cream has this 
advantage over fruit juices for the breakfast 
dish, that it contains a large proportion of 
fats, in which the flakes are somewhat de- 
ficient. 

Persons with slow digestion will find wheat 



112 THE FAMILY FOOD 

flakes eaten dry very helpful. A greater 
amount of saliva is required to reduce them 
to a liquid in the mouth, and this larger quan- 
tity of saliva and its thorough saturation of 
the flakes insure a more rapid digestion. 

Flakes have this additional advantage, that 
they are one of the most economical foods 
which the housewife can buy. In a ten-cent 
package containing a pound one obtains 1,600 
calories, or food units. The same amount 
spent in sirloin steak at the modest price of 
twenty cents buys but 975 calories. What has 
been said of flaked wheat applies for the 
greater part to shredded and puffed wheat as 
well. 

NOODLES AND MACARONI 

Homemade noodles are a wholesome food, 
but most of the noodles on the market, al- 
though of a golden yellow color, are not made 
with eggs, being dyed either with a vegetable 
color or a coal-tar dye. 

Of twenty-two samples of noodles collected 
and analyzed by a State agricultural experi- 
ment station all were found to " contain for- 
eign coloring matter, which in twelve cases 
was turmeric and in ten cases was an azo 
color, evidently added with the intention of 



THE CEREALS 113 

conveying the impression that the noodles 
were made with eggs. The average composi- 
tion of the noodles examined was, protein, 
13.46 per cent. ; carbohydrates, 71.89 per cent., 
and fat 0.83 per cent., or about the same as 
macaroni, and but little different from that of 
the wheat flour from which it is prepared. 
Few of the samples examined showed any 
evidence of the use of an appreciable amount 
of egg in their preparation." The total food 
value per pound of noodles is 1,665 calories, 
of macaroni the same, of spaghetti, 1,660, 
and of vermicelli, 1,625. 

CORN 

Corn is America's gift to the world. Co- 
lumbus found it in use among the Indians, and 
carried specimens home with him to Spain. 
It is thus one of the newest of the cereals, but 
so rapidly has its use extended throughout 
the world that it is raised wherever there is 
a climate adapted to its growth. It has even 
been dubbed " King Corn," and the more en- 
thusiastic of its promoters venture to assert 
that it will yet supplant wheat as the staple 
cereal of mankind. 

Such a claim is extravagant, of course, but 
the fact remains that corn is exceedingly nu- 



114 THE FAMILY FOOD 

tritious, that its various food elements — pro- 
teins, fats and carbohydrates — are well bal- 
anced, that it may be prepared in an infinite 
variety of ways, and that it is one of the most 
economical foodstuffs on the market. 

Respecting its food value, corn meal is 9.2 
per cent, protein, 1.9 per cent, fat, and 75.4 
carbohydrates. The proportion of fat is 
somewhat low, but this is amply supplied by 
the butter or cream which is usually eaten with 
it. Corn is thus an excellent food for the man 
doing muscular labor. Moreover, with a 
total food value of 1,655 calories per pound 
of meal, its claim to being the cheapest food 
obtainable is not a rash one, since two pounds 
a day will supply sufficient nutrition to a labor- 
ing man, and its retail price is usually from 
two to three cents a pound. 

JOHNNY CAKE 

The various kinds of bread, having meal 
as their basis, are the corn foods most gen- 
erally in use. Of these " Johnny cake " and 
" hoe-cake " are perhaps the most popular. 
Both are easily digested. Butter, or some 
other form of fat, should be eaten with both 
cakes for two reasons : because, as in the case 
of rice, it prevents the corn from forming 



THE CEREALS 115 

into a sticky mass in the stomach ; and because 
the butter supplies an abundance of fats and 
a slight amount of proteins, in which, partic- 
ularly the fats, corn is somewhat lacking. 
Similarly, cane and corn syrups and molasses 
are still eaten very extensively with corn bread 
as a " spread." The molasses, like the meal, 
is composed chiefly of carbohydrates on the one 
hand; and the fats and nitrogenous elements, 
on the other, are increased. 

A wholesome hoe-cake may be made by 
scalding one pint of white corn meal, with 
which, if desired, a tablespoonful of sugar and 
one-half teaspoon ful of salt have been mixed, 
with boiling milk, or water enough to make a 
batter sufficiently thick not to spread. Drop on 
a hot griddle, in large or small cakes as pre- 
ferred, about one-half inch in thickness. Cook 
slowly, and when well browned on the under 
side, turn. The cake may be cooked slowly 
until well done throughout, or, as the 
portion underneath becomes well browned, the 
first brown crust may be peeled off with a 
knife, and the cake again turned. As rapidly 
as a crust becomes formed and browned, one 
may be removed, and the cake turned, until the 
whole is browned. The thin, wafer-like crusts 
are excellent served with hot milk or cream. 



116 THE FAMILY FOOD 

A delicious corn pudding is made as fol- 
lows: Three tablespoons corn meal (white 
preferred), three tablespoons corn starch or 
rice flour, three cups milk, one-fourth cup su- 
gar, one-half teaspoon cinnamon, one teaspoon 
chopped citron, one-half teaspoon salt. Mix 
the meal and corn starch. Scald the milk and 
add it to the meal, stirring continuously. Cook 
until thick. Next add sugar and seasonings, 
and cook in a double boiler for one hour. 
Serve with a custard sauce. 

CORN BREAD 

Corn bread is very wholesome, but is made 
more pleasing to the palate by mixing the meal 
with the wheat flour. The wheat flour im- 
parts a flavor of its own, and in addition corn 
meal lacks the tenacious qualities of wheat 
flour and a piece of bread crumbles and falls 
apart upon the merest touch. The wheat 
flour, at the same time, adds a considerable 
quantity of protein to the bread. 

CORN-MEAL MUSH. 

Corn-meal mush, made wholly of corn meal, 
is a very nutritious dish, but unless it is care- 
fully chewed it is difficult of digestion and 
apt to cause sour stomach. The addition of a 



THE CEREALS 117 

small amount of butter renders it more di- 
gestible. 

HOMINY 

Hominy is as wholesome as it is popular. 
In the case of the home-made variety, in which 
the hulls are removed by means of lye, partic- 
ular pains must be taken to masticate it thor- 
oughly, else large particles which the digestive 
juices cannot readily penetrate will lodge in the 
intestine and ferment, giving rise to poisonous 
substances which pass into the blood and pro- 
duce autointoxication. The prepared hominy 
which one obtains in the market is nutritious, 
and possesses a more pleasing flavor than the 
old-fashioned kind. 

GREEN CORN 

Green corn is composed mainly of water, 
and so is less nutritious than maize. Its analy- 
sis is as follows : protein, 2.8 per cent. ; fats, 
1.2 per cent.; carbohydrates, 19.7 per cent.; 
with the exception of about one per cent, of 
waste material the rest is water. Because of 
its delicate flavor it is one of the most popu- 
lar of American foods, a fact attested by the 
enormous quantities which are canned and 
dried for winter use. 



118 THE FAMILY FOOD 

SUCCOTASH 

Succotash is only one, though the most com- 
mon, of several ways in which green corn can 
be prepared. It contains nearly one per cent, 
more protein than green corn. Any cook book 
will contain recipes for a variety of dishes 
which are both tasty and healthful. 

PARCHED CORN 

Parched corn has never attained the dignity 
of a popular dish, but it possesses some very 
substantial merits. It is nutritious, nearly as 
much so as corn meal — and richer by four 
per cent, in the fats. Ground fine and eaten 
with cream or with the juice of some fruit, 
parched corn is quite the equal, in palatability, 
of many of the more pretentious patent break- 
fast foods. 

POPPED CORN 

Popped corn is considered rather a food for 
the children to nibble at in odd hours than a 
dish for sober consideration for its food qual- 
ities. Yet it is a fact that in proteins and fats 
popped corn is quite the equal of corn meal, 
and in carbohydrates is considerably richer. 



THE CEREALS 119 

It does not agree with many persons whose di- 
gestion is weak ; but even in these cases it may- 
be found quite as digestible as corn bread, if 
the chewing is thorough in the extreme. 

RICE 

Peruse the grocery bills of American house- 
wives and you will almost invariably come 
across this item : " J / 2 lb. rice," or the purchase 
may have been more extravagant, and we read, 
" I lb. rice." Yet this cereal of which we eat 
so sparingly is, in point of quantity produced, 
a close second to wheat — the latter with 
190,000,000,000 and rice with 175,000,000,000 
pounds. It forms, indeed, the staple food of 
over half the inhabitants of the world. 

The signs indicate, moreover, that we of the 
Occident are acquiring a real taste for rice as 
we become familiar with a variety of tasty 
ways of preparing it. The fact that of the 
total output, 600,000,000 pounds were pro- 
duced in America, is a good omen. 

One obstacle which has stood in the way of 
the popularity of rice in the past has been the 
monotony which it seemed to bring into the 
dietary. Rice could be steamed, or it could be 
boiled and made into a pudding; but there our 



120 THE FAMILY FOOD 

knowledge of its preparation ceased. Steamed 
rice to-day meant the plain boiled product to- 
morrow, and pudding the next, and then the 
round began again. Now, however, we are 
adding new and tasty dishes to our stock of 
rice recipes, and the time will no doubt come 
when rice will be one of the chief items in the 
nation's bill of fare. 

Rice is rich in starch — it contains 79 per 
cent, starch — but is at the same time propor- 
tionately low in protein. For this reason it 
should be eaten along with foods containing 
more or less of the nitrogenous element. Len- 
tils, beans, or peas will supply the deficiency, 
if a vegetable food is preferred. 

DIGESTIBILITY OF RICE 

Rice is one of the most digestible of all 
foods. Nearly a hundred years ago a hunter 
named Martin St. Alexis received a gunshot 
wound which tore a great hole in his side, and 
exposing the stomach to view, enabled his phy- 
sician, Dr. Beaumont, to observe the digestive 
processes going on within. Among other 
things determined by Dr. Beaumont was the 
time required for the digestion of rice, as com- 
pared with some other foods. The results are 
shown in the following table : 



THE CEREALS 121 

Rice, boiled, I hour. 

Apples, sweet and mellow, I hour and 30 
minutes. 

Tapioca, 2 hours. 

Barley, boiled, 2 hours. 

Milk, boiled, 2 hours. 

Milk, raw, 2 hours, 15 minutes. 

Eggs, raw, whipped, 1 hour, 30 minutes. 

Eggs, hard boiled, 3 hours. 

Eggs, fried, 3 hours, 30 minutes. 

Stewed oysters, 3 hours, 30 minutes. 

Roast beef, 3 hours, 30 minutes. 

Fried beef, 4 hours. 

Corned beef, 4 hours, 15 minutes. 

Pork, roasted, 5 hours, 15 minutes. 

Corn bread, 3 hours, 15 minutes. 

Wheat bread, 3 hours, 30 minutes. 

Potatoes, Irish, boiled, 3 hours, 30 min- 
utes. 

Potatoes, Irish, baked, 2 hours, 30 min- 
utes. 

Cabbage, boiled, 4 hours, 30 minutes. 

Cabbage, raw, 3 hours, 30 minutes. 

To add still further to the digestibility of 
cooked rice, eat it with a little butter. This 
guards against the formation of the rice into 
a sticky mass within the stomach which would 
prevent the digestive juices from coming in 
contact with the bulk of the rice and reducing 
it quickly to chyme. 



122 THE FAMILY FOOD 

Rice is imperfectly cooked if it comes to the 
table in the form of a heavy, sticky paste. 
Every grain should stand out by itself, quite 
detached from every other kernel. This is 
next to impossible when the rice is boiled by 
the usual method of boiling, hence the pref- 
erable way is to steam it. Steamed rice has 
also a richer flavor than the boiled, as one's 
own experience will prove. Nothing more 
elaborate than the ordinary small double boiler 
is necessary to get the best results. 

In preparing a sauce for rice do not make 
the very common mistake of making it too 
elaborate — so elaborate that it hides the fla- 
vor of the rice. Rich cream, without the ad- 
dition of sugar, or some kind of fruit juice, 
is more satisfactory on this account than a 
sauce. 

BOILED RICE 

To boil rice, use three cups of water to one 
cup of rice. Bring the water to the boiling 
point and add three level teaspoonfuls of salt. 
Next add the rice, and let boil violently for 
twenty minutes. The agitation of the water 
during the boiling will tend to keep the grains 
separate and intact. Drain the rice into a col- 



THE CEREALS 123 

ander and place in a warm oven for five min- 
utes in order to dry and further insure the sep- 
aration of the grains. 

Rice gruel is valuable to the housewife or 
nurse who is obliged to vary the dish of a pa- 
tient. A pleasing rice gruel may be made as 
follows: ground rice, two ounces; powdered 
cinnamon, one- fourth ounce; four pints of wa- 
ter. Boil for forty minutes and add a tea- 
spoonful of orange marmalade. 

Again, rice with oranges makes an appetiz- 
ing dish. Use one cup rice, two and one-half 
cups rich milk, one-half teaspoon salt, yolks of 
two eggs, four tablespoons sugar, one teaspoon 
vanilla. Wash the rice thoroughly and put to 
cook in double boiler with the milk and salt. 
Cook until the rice is tender and the milk ab- 
sorbed. When tender mix in lightly the beaten 
yolks of the eggs, sugar and vanilla, and cook 
five minutes longer. Remove from fire and 
mold as desired. Unmold on small plates and 
surround with sliced oranges prepared from 
one and one-half cup sugar, one-third cup wa- 
ter, and one teaspoon lemon juice. Cook su- 
gar and water ten minutes, and add lemon 
juice. Peel oranges deeply so as to remove 
every particle of the white skin. Cut into 



124 THE FAMILY FOOD 

slices and place a few at a time in the hot 
syrup and cook two minutes. Arrange around 
the molded rice. 

A delightful rice jelly can be made by wash- 
ing one cupful of rice and soaking for two 
hours in a cupful of water. Pour both rice 
and water into one quart of boiling water and 
let boil for three-quarters of an hour. Strain 
through a muslin bag. When cold and thick 
serve with powdered sugar and cream. If de- 
sired it may be garnished with a few berries, 
or other suitable fruit. 

The newer and more complete cook-books 
contain many recipes which add variety to the 
simpler dishes here described. Then, too, the 
housewife has flaked rice to fall back upon. 
The market contains a number of brands which 
may be depended upon to furnish palatable and 
nutritious dishes. 

PUFFED AND FLAKED RICE 

Rice flakes in a toasted form are a still later 
product. To a crisp palatability they unite ex- 
treme ease of digestion. With cream or fruit 
juices they form an ideal food for one whose 
digestion is not in the least vigorous. Puffed 
rice, another recent product, forms a pleasing 
breakfast dish, and like the foods just men- 



THE CEREALS 125 

tioned, combines nutritiveness with ease of di- 
gestion. 

RYE 

Rye flour contains from four to six per cent. 
less nitrogenous, or cell-building, material than 
does wheat flour, but on the other hand it 
contains from two to six per cent, more of the 
carbohydrate, or energy-producing, element. 
This excess of carbohydrate would seem to 
make rye bread more valuable to the working- 
man than wheat bread, but this advantage is 
offset by the fact that it is more difficult of 
digestion than white bread. 

Bread from rye, on the other hand, is 
coarser of texture than white bread, and con- 
sequently is slightly laxative, and so may be 
eaten with good effect in cases of constipation. 
Rye bread has also this advantage, particu- 
larly in the summer months, that it is slightly 
hygroscopic — that is, it gathers moisture from 
the surrounding atmosphere and does not dry 
out so quickly as wheat bread. 

BARLEY 

Barley is a little more nutritious than rye, 
being richer in proteins and fats, though con- 
taining six per cent, less carbonaceous ma- 
terial. In general favor among the housewives 



126 THE FAMILY FOOD 

of early New England for bread, barley flour 
is to-day used almost not at all for this pur- 
pose. Barley bread, however, offers a change 
in the diet, and while, like rye bread, it is 
more difficult of digestion than wheat bread, 
it is, at the same time, slightly laxative, and 
for this reason persons subject to constipation 
can use it to advantage. 

In making barley bread be careful to mix 
with the flour a small quantity of wheat flour, 
in order to make good a deficiency of gluten in 
the barley flour. Likewise, a little barley flour 
added to the ingredients for wheat bread im- 
proves the flavor of bread, and because of its 
hygroscopic qualities enables the loaf to retain 
its moisture. 

Pearl barley is barley from which the outer 
shell, or husk, has been removed, and which 
has been polished by a mechanical rubbing 
process. It contains rather less nitrogenous 
material than barley flour, but has a higher 
percentage of carbohydrates. 

The two recipes which follow are simple, 
and as pleasing as they are simple. 

BAKED BARLEY 

Soak six tablespoonfuls of barley in cold 
water over night. In the morning, turn off 



THE CEREALS 127 

the water, and put the barley in an earthen 
dish, and pour three and one-half pints of 
boiling water over it ; add salt as desired, and 
bake in a moderately quick oven about two 
and one-half hours, or till perfectly soft, and 
all the water is absorbed. When about half 
done, add four or five tablespoonfuls of sugar 
mixed with grated lemon peel. It may be 
eaten warm, but molded in cups and served 
with cream or nut cream it is pleasing eaten 
cold. 

PEARL BARLEY WITH RAISINS 

Carefully look over and wash a cupful of 
pearl barley. Cook in a double boiler in five 
cups of boiling water for four hours. Just 
before serving, add a cupful of raisins which 
have been prepared by pouring boiling water 
over them and let stand until swollen. Serve 
hot with cream. 

In making up a diet for a sick person, be 
sure to include barley water. This may be 
made as follows : Take two ounces of pearl 
barley and wash well with cold water, discard- 
ing the washings. Afterwards boil with a 
pint and a half of water for twenty minutes 
in a covered vessel, and strain. The product 
may be sweetened and flavored with lemon 



128 THE FAMILY FOOD 

peel, or lemon peel may be added during the 
boiling process. Lemon juice is also some- 
times added to flavor. 

BARLEYADE 

For a delightfully refreshing drink take one- 
half pint pearl barley, three pints of water, one 
tablespoonful of orange juice, season. Care- 
fully pick over the barley and wash it. Cover 
with three pints of water and cook slowly for 
two hours; then pour off a teacup ful, strain and 
sweeten to taste. Add salt and orange juice. 
Cook before serving. Let the rest of the bar- 
ley cook until it is sufficiently soft to pass 
through sieve, adding water if necessary. 
Then salt, sweeten and flavor with nutmeg. 
Mold and serve with cream or fruit juices. 

OATS 

When Dr. Samuel Johnson taunted the 
Scotch with being a nation of oat-eaters, de- 
fining oats as being, " In Scotland, food for 
men; in England, food for horses," a canny 
Scot rejoined, " Aye ! and where will ye find 
such fine men as in Scotland, or such horses as 
in England ! " 

The Scotchman, perhaps, was prejudiced in 
favor of his race. This will depend upon 



THE CEREALS 129 

whether one hails from the " Hielands " or no. 
It is probable, too, that in addition to the oats, 
the general simplicity of the Highlander's fare 
and his outdoor life contribute to his condition 
of rugged health. In any case, however, one 
can admit that the Scotchman's enthusiasm for 
oatmeal was well founded. 

Oatmeal is exceedingly nutritious, contain- 
ing, to the pound, 1,860 calories, or heat units, 
of which 16.1 per cent, is protein, 7.2 per cent. 
fat, and 67.5 per cent, carbohydrates. Ex- 
cepting the low percentage of fats, so closely 
balanced are these three elements that an oat- 
meal diet alone would be sufficient to keep a 
man in health, so long as he did not tire of it. 
The fats could be added in the form of butter 
or cream. Three thousand calories, we have 
found, are sufficient to keep a man doing a nor- 
mal amount of muscular work, and with oat- 
meal selling at five cents per pound, the eco- 
nomic value of the cereal will be apparent. 

DIGESTIBILITY OF OATMEAL 

Oatmeal is somewhat more difficult of di- 
gestion than wheat, and when served in a pasty, 
underdone condition is almost indigestible, par- 
ticularly if chewing has not been thorough. 
The meal should be poured into boiling water 



130 THE FAMILY FOOD 

and cooked slowly and continuously. Do not 
stir, but cook in a double boiler, or steamer, or 
best of all, in a fireless cooker, the latter 
method allowing the cooking to proceed slowly 
and evenly, and tending to retain the flavor. 

Oatmeal, in the popular form of mush, may 
be prepared as follows : Heat a quart of wa- 
ter to boiling, in the inner dish of a double 
boiler; stir into it one cup of coarse oatmeal, 
and boil rapidly, stirring continuously until it 
sets; then place in the outer boiler, the water 
in which should be boiling, and cook three 
hours or longer. Serve with cream. 

A tasty jellied oatmeal may be made by 
cooking the oatmeal with an additional cup 
or cup and a half of water, and when done 
turning into cups to mold. Serve with hot 
cream. 

OATMEAL GRUEL 

An oatmeal gruel may be made with two 
tablespoons of oatmeal, salt to taste, one scant 
teaspoonful of sugar, one cup boiling water, 
and one cupful milk. Mix the oatmeal, salt 
and sugar together, and pour in the boiling 
water. Cook thirty minutes. Strain through 
a fine colander to remove the hulls, replace on 
stove, add the milk, and heat just to the boil- 



THE CEREALS 131 

ing point and serve hot. Gruel is one of the 
most nourishing and appetizing of foods for 
the invalid. 

Oatmeal may be combined with apples in 
making the following choice dessert: Bring 
to the boiling point in a double boiler one and 
one-half cups of water, and stir into it half 
cup of oatmeal and salt to taste. Boil rapidly 
until it begins to thicken. Place in the outer 
part of the boiler, and cook for three hours. 
Pare and core, scooping out large cavities in 
the center, six apples, and cook in a liquid 
made of one quart of water and one and one- 
third cup of sugar. When done, place on 
platter and fill centers with the oatmeal. Boil 
water and sugar until of the consistency of 
syrup and pour over the filled apples. 

A large variety of oatmeal biscuits may be 
obtained in the market. On account of the 
butter or other oils which are used in their 
preparation, these contain a fairly high per- 
centage of fat (n.i per cent), also of protein 
and carbohydrate, and are therefore very nu- 
tritious. 

BUCKWHEAT 

In certain districts of Europe, particularly 
in Russia and Brittany, buckwheat forms a 



132 THE FAMILY FOOD 

staple part of the diet. In our own country, 
however, it is used wholly in the making of 
pancakes. Buckwheat flour is very nutritious, 
and is rich in the carbonaceous, or heat- and 
energy-producing elements — the exact pro- 
portions of the various elements are: protein, 
6.4 per cent. ; fats, 1.2 per cent. ; carbohydrates, 
77.9 per cent., with 1,620 calories to the pound. 
The use of butter on the cakes makes up for 
their low amount of fats, and for this reason is 
more healthful than syrup or molasses, which 
add a higher proportion of carbohydrates to a 
food already highly carbonaceous. 

Buckwheat cakes are notoriously indigesti- 
ble, because of the frying process. Working- 
men speak of them as " sticking to the ribs " — 
merely one way of saying that they remain 
undigested in the stomach for several hours, 
and thus stave off the approach of hunger. 
Omit the frying — but then, pancakes would 
not be pancakes prepared in any other way. 



CHAPTER IX 

VEGETABLES 

The term " vegetables " is used in this chap- 
ter to denote all members of the vegetable 
kingdom not included under the following 
heads: cereals, fruits and nuts. The cereals 
have already been discussed; fruits and nuts 
will be taken up in their order. 

The vegetables, as a class of foodstuffs, are 
notably low in protein when compared with 
the cereals, legumes and lean meats. The 
starches are the predominating food element, 
and since the proteins, though low, are suffi- 
cient for the needs of the body, one has at his 
disposal a wide range of foods from which to 
select this part of his dietary. This fact is 
appreciated by every housewife, who at the 
waning of the long winter welcomes spring- 
time for the variety which it promises to bring 
to her larder. 

Many of the vegetables, cabbage, for ex- 
ample, are coarse-grained, and contain a bulky 
cellulose structure which stimulates intestinal 
133 



134* ■ THE FAMILY FOOD 

activity, thus making them valuable in cases of 
constipation. Most vegetables also contain 
valuable salts which, along with the proteins, 
fats and carbohydrates, enter into the making 
of body tissue. 

POTATOES 

A pound of potatoes, boiled, yields but 440 
of the 3,000 calories required daily to keep 
the body in working condition, 75.5 per cent, 
of the potato being water. The great bulk 
alone would keep us from attempting to make 
up the required number of food calories by 
eating six pounds a day. But more than this, 
the nutritious part of the potato is wholly com- 
posed of carbohydrates in the form of starch, 
so that a potato diet would leave one short on 
proteins and fats. 

The large proportion of the energy-produc- 
ing carbohydrates, however, makes the potato 
a valuable food for the workingman, and as 
the price is usually easily within the reach of 
every purse, it is one of the most economical 
foods for the laborer as well. For the sed- 
entary worker it is valuable on account of 
its bulk, since a diet of highly concentrated 
foods is apt to overload the system with food 
elements which it does not need. 



VEGETABLES 135 

Between the pink-skinned and the light or 
yellowish varieties of potatoes there is little to 
choose. The blue and dark kinds are unde- 
sirable for table use, except for salads and 
garnishes. Aside from the varieties put on 
the market as " earlies," those whose skin has 
either a netted or a corky appearance or touch 
are usually preferred to the smooth and clear- 
skinned potatoes. The potatoes of smooth 
and clear skin are oftentimes excessively 
watery or immature. 

After peeling the potatoes, do not keep them 
standing in water before boiling, as a consid- 
erable portion of the nutritious elements passes 
out into the water and is thus lost, while the 
flavor is also depreciated. 

Potatoes are best cooked in their jackets, 
either boiled or baked. In this form they are 
more mealy and their starch is more easily di- 
gested, while at the same time the nutritious 
portion which otherwise would be cut away in 
the peeling process is preserved. When boiled 
and well mashed, the potato is finely broken up 
and thus rendered digestible. New potatoes, 
on the other hand, are not mealy, and unless 
very thoroughly cooked are less digestible than 
old potatoes. 

When dressings are desired, butter or rich 



136 THE FAMILY FOOD 

cream affords one of the most nutritious, be- 
cause of the fat which each contains. Meat 
sauces, rich both in protein and fats, are also 
desirable, though apt to be less digestible than 
butter or cream. 

Fried potatoes are notoriously indigestible, 
as also, though to a lesser extent, " potato 
balls." Potato salads, because of the insuffi- 
ciently cooked condition of the potato, and 
because of the use of indigestible ingredients, 
such as vinegar, raw onions, etc., belong to 
the same class. 

SWEET POTATO 

The sweet potato is somewhat more nutri- 
tious than the Irish potato, containing less 
protein and fats, but considerably more of the 
carbohydrates. Its food value per pound is 
570 calories. 

The sweet potato, however, is less digestible 
than the white potato, being less mealy when 
cooked, and often contains an indigestible 
stringy substance. As is the case with Irish 
potatoes, however, or any food in which the 
starches predominate, and mouth digestion 
plays an important part, thorough mastication 
will remove a vast amount of this objection of 
indigestibility. 



VEGETABLES 137 

ARTICHOKES 

In this connection we may mention the 
Jerusalem artichoke, which, though less nutri- 
tious than either of the potatoes, is very easily 
digested. Its proportion of carbohydrates is 
16.7 per cent. ; of protein, 2.6 per cent. ; of fats, 
2 per cent. 

BEETS 

Water comprises 87.5 per cent, of the best 
substance, and of the remainder 9.7 per cent, 
represents starches and sugars. The total food 
value is 215 calories to the pound; in other 
words, beets are less than half as nutritious as 
the potato. Though not, however, highly nu- 
tritious, they are very digestible, unless we ex- 
cept beet pickles, in which form the saturation 
with vinegar tends to toughen them and make 
them difficult of digestion. 

Beets, on account of the beautiful red which 
they impart, have an ornamental as well as a 
gustatory value in the making of salads. Eggs, 
too, boiled hard and allowed to stand two or 
three days in the vinegar of beet pickles ac- 
quire a beautiful deep wine color and a pleas- 
ing pungent taste, though the vinegar detracts 
from their digestibility. 

Beet top greens, while without food value, 



138 THE FAMILY FOOD 

are nevertheless pleasing to the taste, as greens 
go, and eaten with lemon juice instead of vine- 
gar are by no means indigestible. 

PARSNIPS 

Almost devoid of proteins and fats, and con- 
taining 83 per cent of water, the parsnip con- 
tains, nevertheless, 300 food units, chiefly car- 
bonaceous, to the pound. In preparing it for 
the table it may be either boiled or fried. The 
boiling process preserves a more delicate flavor 
and renders it the more digestible form of the 
two. Persons subject to flatulence should 
avoid parsnips, as they tend to promote this 
condition. 

CARROTS 

Carrots contain five per cent, more water 
than do parsnips, practically the same amount 
of fats and proteins, but four per cent, less 
carbohydrate material. Its total food value is 
210 calories to the pound. They have this dis- 
advantage, that they can be prepared in but a 
small number of ways — boiling, frying, and 
in stews along with vegetables are, in fact, 
about the only forms in which carrots can be 
prepared, but within this narrow range they 
afford a pleasing variety to the diet. 



VEGETABLES 139 

TURNIPS 

As we descend the scale of nutritiveness we 
come to turnips, with 185 calories to the 
pound. Water composes 89.6 per cent, of the 
turnip substance, and carbohydrates 8.1 per 
cent, of the remainder. The large proportion 
of cellulose which is present tends to make it 
hard to digest for persons with a weak diges- 
tive apparatus. Turnips contribute a pleasing 
flavor to vegetable stews, but boiled alone, they 
have a flavor which is rather too strong to 
make them a general favorite. 

Baking is one of the most pleasing ways of 
cooking turnips. Select turnips of uniform 
size; wash and wipe, but do not pare them. 
Place on the top grate of a moderately hot 
oven. Bake until tender. Peel and serve at 
once, either mashed or with a cream sauce. 
Prepared in this manner the turnip retains 
much of its natural sweetness. 

SALSIFY 

Salsify, or " vegetable oyster," as it is often 
called, is likewise of low food value, but con- 
taining less indigestible cellulose than carrots 
and turnips, is more easily digested. 

Escalloped salsify is an appetizing dish, and 



140 THE FAMILY FOOD 

is prepared as follows : Drop into boiling wa- 
ter six medium sized roots, cleansed and 
scraped. Boil gently for thirty minutes. 
Slice and place in a baking dish in layers, al- 
ternating with stale bread crumbs. Over this 
pour the following sauce and bake one-half 
hour: One-fourth cup of the water in which 
the salsify was cooked, three-fourths cup of 
cream, one-fourth teaspoonful salt, two tea- 
spoons flour. 

RADISHES 

Radishes are composed almost wholly of 
water, and with the remarkably low food value 
of 135 calories per pound, they count almost 
not at all as a source of nourishment. Their 
pungent flavor makes them a particularly pleas- 
ing relish in the early spring when one has be- 
come tired of the monotonous diet of winter. 
The radish is even said to give certain me- 
dicinal effects, possessing slight " antiscor- 
butic " properties — that is to say, it is a pre- 
ventive of scurvy. 

CABBAGE 

With 145 calories to the pound, cabbage is 
slightly more nutritious than the radish, but 
like the radish its chief value lies in the pleas- 



VEGETABLES 141 

ing variety which it affords the diet. It is 
rather difficult of digestion, however, and in 
the alimentary canal, where fermentation ex- 
ists, the considerable quantity of sulphur which 
it contains is likely to produce flatulence. Cab- 
bage also possesses slight antiscorbutic proper- 
ties. 

In cooking be careful to boil vigorously, as 
slow cooking is apt to make it watery and 
stringy. 

Among the ways of preparing cabbage, salad 
is a general favorite, for which a tasty sauce 
is made of three tablespoons lemon juice, two 
tablespoons sugar, and a half cup of whipped 
cream, thoroughly beaten together in the order 
named. 

Sauerkraut is less nutritious than plain cab- 
bage, and to many people is indigestible. 
Where this is not an insurmountable objection 
the effects are not injurious. In Germany the 
liquid portion of sauerkraut is used to relieve 
intestinal autointoxication. 

CAULIFLOWER 

Belonging to the cabbage family, and a trifle 
less nutritious than cabbage, are cauliflower 
and broccoli. They are more easily digestible 
than cabbage, but like the latter they tend to 



142 THE FAMILY FOOD 

cause flatulence in the case of persons whose 
digestion is not vigorous. Boiled or stewed 
cauliflower is very pleasing eaten plain, but a 
cream of tomato sauce, or dilute lemon juice, 
adds much to its palatability. In washing 
cauliflower and cabbage, hold the head down- 
ward, so as to facilitate the removal of any 
insects which may be within. 

BRUSSELS SPROUTS 

Coming down still lower in the scale of nu- 
tritive value, we find "sprouts" with 1.5 per 
cent, of protein, 0.1 per cent, fat, 3.4 per cent, 
carbohydrate, and a total food value of 95 calo- 
ries to the pound. Owing to their delicate fla- 
vor, however, sprouts are enjoying an increas- 
ing popularity in this country. They are 
fairly easy of digestion, and give a delightful 
variety to the diet. In boiling, a consider- 
able portion of liquid substance and flavor pass 
into the water, so that the liquor should also be 
eaten in order to get the full value of the 
sprouts. 

SPINACH AND DANDELIONS 

Spinach also has a low food value, contain- 
ing no calories to the pound. The proportion 
of its fats to the protein and carbohydrates is 



VEGETABLES 143 

larger than in most other vegetables of its 
class, being 2.1 per cent., with 0.3 per cent, fat 
and 3.2 per cent, carbohydrates. Spinach is 
also rich in iron, and on this account is valuable 
in cases of anaemia. 

Dandelion leaves, with 285 calories, are more 
than twice as nutritious as spinach, and contain 
a higher percentage of carbohydrates — 10.6 
per cent., to be exact. Both possess laxative 
properties, and are helpful in cases of chronic 
constipation. Before cooking freshly gath- 
ered spinach or dandelion leaves wash them 
in scalding water to remove sand and grit. 

Lemon juice, instead of the vinegar usually 
used as a dressing, will render greens more di- 
gestible. Sliced boiled eggs afford a pleasing 
garnish. 

In the same class with spinach and dande- 
lions, and possessing almost precisely the same 
food value, digestibility and laxative proper- 
ties, may be mentioned green peppers, parsley, 
chervil, endive, chickory and okra. 

CELERY 

Celery is practically devoid of nutritive 
value, with but 85 calories to the pound. Eaten 
raw it is difficult of digestion. The popular 
conception of the medicinal value of celery is 



144 THE FAMILY FOOD 

unfounded in fact, either in cases of rheuma- 
tism or disordered nerves, or any other condi- 
tion. The various celery compounds sold in 
the drug store are of no value whatever. 

However, celery has a flavor distinctly its 
own, and it is almost indispensable in the mak- 
ing of salads and sandwiches, so that it has 
come to be, particularly at the winter and au- 
tumn holidays almost a national institution. 
Celery salt is useful in the flavoring of soups 
and salads. 

When boiled, celery is easily digested. A 
simple recipe, and one on which several varia- 
tions can be made by the inventive housewife, 
is stewed celery as follows : Cut the tender 
inner parts of celery heads into pieces about a 
finger-length long. The outer and more fibrous 
stalks may be saved to season soups. Put in a 
stewpan and add sufficient water to cover, then 
cover the pan closely and set it where it will 
just simmer for an hour, or until the celery is 
perfectly tender. When cooked, add a pint 
of rich milk (part cream), salt to taste, and 
when boiling stir in a tablespoonful of flour, 
rubbed smooth in a little milk. Boil at once 
and serve. 

Celery makes a pleasing dish prepared as fol- 
lows : get the celery ready as in the preceding 



VEGETABLES 145 

recipe, and cook until tender in a small quan- 
tity of boiling water. Drain in a colander and 
for three cups of stewed celery prepare a sauce 
with a pint of strained, stewed tomato, heated 
to boiling, and thickened with a tablespoonful 
of flower rubbed smooth in a little cold water. 
If desired, add a half cup of thin cream. Pour 
over the celery and serve hot. 

LETTUCE 

Lettuce is also a non-nutritious food, with 
but ninety calories per pound. It is not diffi- 
cult of digestion, has a delicate, pleasing flavor, 
and is easily made into salads — these quali- 
ties amply atone for its low food value, and 
unite to give it universal popularity. Lemon 
juice may be substituted to advantage for the 
vinegar dressing commonly used on lettuce. 
Its reputation as a sleep producer is wholly un- 
deserved. 

ASPARAGUS 

Asparagus is one of the most digestible of 
all vegetables, if eaten when quite fresh. In 
cooking, remove it from the water just as soon 
as it has become tender, as prolonged cooking 
detracts from the flavor, and when it becomes 
soft and mushy it is unappetizing. 



146 THE FAMILY FOOD 

For a plain asparagus dish, cleanse the stalks 
and break into inch pieces, simmer until ten- 
der in sufficient water to cover, add enough 
rich milk to make a gravy, thicken slightly with 
flour, add salt to taste. This dish may be 
varied in this manner: serve the asparagus as 
prepared above on toast, with an egg sauce 
made by heating a half cup of rich milk to 
boiling, adding salt, and turning into it slowly 
a beaten egg yolk, stirring constantly. 
Thicken and remove from the stove at once. 

RHUBARB 

The only point of comparison between rhu- 
barb, or " pie plant," and asparagus is the 
total food value, which is 105 calories in either 
vegetable. Rhubarb has decidedly laxative 
properties, and is therefore valuable for per- 
sons suffering from constipation, while at the 
same time it aggravates gout and rheumatism. 
When thoroughly cooked it is easily digested, 
and with its tart flavor it ranks with the fruits 
as a dessert dish, either stewed or as a filling 
for pie. 

ONIONS 

The onion is one of the most nutritious of 
the succulent vegetables, the fresh onion con- 



VEGETABLES 147 

taining 225 calories, 9.9 per cent, being carbo- 
hydrate, or energy-producing element. On ac- 
count of the strong odor which it imparts to 
the breath, however, and its tendency to cause 
flatulence, it is not in the best of repute. These 
objections can be removed, however, by letting 
the onions stand in water until the acrid oil has 
passed from the onion and collects on the sur- 
face of the water. The evaporation which 
takes place during the cooking process is usu- 
ally sufficient to produce the same effect. 

With many persons raw onion is difficult, 
or even impossible, of digestion, but when 
stewed it is one of the most digestible of the 
vegetables. Particularly is this the case when 
the onions have been allowed to stand in water 
before cooking, as suggested above. 

Used for flavoring entrees, etc., so small a 
portion of onion is used that it has no apparent 
effect upon the digestion, and is negligible from 
the standpoint of food-value. The onion has 
some medicinal value, being antiscorbutic and 
slightly laxative. 

A delicious soup may be made from the 
onion as follows : cut one medium-sized onion 
in thin slices and brown in .butter. When 
nicely browned, add one pint of broth, salt and 
pepper to taste, and let it come to a boil. Boil 



148 THE FAMILY FOOD 

for about two minutes, then pour into a dish 
into which slices of bread have been put and 
serve hot. This soup may be served with 
grated Swiss cheese scattered over the top as 
desired. 

PUMPKIN AND SQUASH 

Neither the pumpkin nor the squash, partic- 
ularly the former, is remarkable for its food 
value. A pound of pumpkin contains 120 cal- 
ories, mostly of the energy-producing elements, 
while the same amount of squash contains 215 
calories, 9 per cent, being energy-producing 
material. Neither vegetable is difficult of di- 
gestion. 

The methods of preparing squash are few 
and well known. The pumpkin is almost in- 
variably used as a filling for pie, but it is also 
pleasing baked like squash, or stewed in the 
following manner : cut a good, ripe pumpkin in 
halves, remove the seeds, slice part way round, 
pare, cut into inch-pieces, put over the fire in 
a utensil containing a small amount of boiling 
water, and stew gently, stirring frequently until 
it breaks to pieces. Cool, put through a col- 
ander, and let it simmer until the water is all 
evaporated. 

Pumpkin for pies is much richer baked like 



VEGETABLES 149 

squash and put through a colander after the 
peeling has been removed. 

SUMMER SQUASH AND VEGETABLE MARROW 

These vegetables are chiefly composed of 
water, and have practically no food value. 
They are easily digested, however, have no 
objectionable qualities, and at the same time 
afford a pleasing variation to the diet. 

CUCUMBER 

Water comprises 95.4 per cent, of the bulk 
of the cucumber, and waste matter, or what 
the chemists call " ash," one-half of one per 
cent. As a source of nutrition, therefore, 
this vegetable figures almost not at all. At the 
same time, unless it is eaten fresh from the 
picking it is difficult of digestion, and is an 
important factor in the production of those 
intestinal disorders known as " summer com- 
plaint," etc. Especially indigestible are cu- 
cumbers as usually served in vinegar and sea- 
soned with pepper and salt. Sour " pickles," 
because almost impermeable by the digestive 
juices, are likewise indigestible. 

Cooked cucumber, however, is more digesti- 
ble, and may be tastily prepared as follows : 
pare the cucumber and divide into quarters, 



150 THE FAMILY FOOD 

remove the seeds and cook in a small quantity 
of water until tender, and serve on toast with 
an egg or a cream sauce. 

TOMATO 

The tomato, like the cucumber, is composed 
largely of water — 94.3 per cent. The re- 
maining solid portion is largely composed of 
the energy-producing elements, carbohydrates, 
with one-half of one per cent, waste matter, or 
ash. It is, however, easily digested, and be- 
cause of its adaptability, is a universal favorite 
with the housewife. It can be served as the 
chief ingredient or as a mere flavoring in- 
gredient in soups; eaten raw with a sauce it 
forms a most delightful relish; it is often 
baked; it helps to form roasts, entrees, and 
salads innumerable, and stewed plain it makes 
a simple side dish. 

From green tomatoes a delicious mince-meat 
may be made as follows : one peck green to- 
matoes, chopped ; drain, cover with water, and 
boil one hour, then drain again. Four pounds 
brown sugar, two pounds seeded raisins, one 
pint vinegar, less than one-half pound butter, 
salt to taste, two tablespoon fuls each of allspice, 
cloves, cinnamon, and nutmeg. Boil until 
thick. 



VEGETABLES 151 

A pleasing salad may be made as follows 
from tomatoes and sliced cucumber: peel cu- 
cumbers and tomatoes; line dish with lettuce 
leaves; put layers or circles of the sliced cu- 
cumbers and tomatoes upon the lettuce and 
serve with mayonnaise dressing. 

THE LEGUMES 

Next to cereals in importance are the 
legumes — peas, beans and lentils. (Peanuts 
are really a legume, but are popularly classed 
as a nut, and so are discussed in Chapter XI.) 
The food values are as follows : 







Carbo- 


Total food 


Proteins 


Fats 


hydrates 


Value 


Per 


Per 


Per 


Calories 


cent. 


cent. 


cent. 


per pound 


Peas, dried . . 24.6 


1.0 


62.0 


1,655 


Beans, Navy 22.5 


1.8 


59-6 


1,605 


Beans, Lima 18.1 


1-5 


65-9 


1,625 




1.0 


59-2 


1,620 



DIGESTIBILITY 

Owing to their high nutritive value and their 
low cost legumes are one of the most econom- 
ical foodstuffs obtainable. Prejudice against 
them has existed in the minds of many people 
on the score of indigestibility. The facts are, 
however, that they are by no means indigesti- 
ble if care is taken to eat them in small quan- 



152 THE FAMILY FOOD 

tities and to remove the hulls. This can be 
done by running through a colander after cook- 
ing. If this is undesirable they can be made 
fairly easy of digestion by first soaking in cold 
(preferably soft) water until the hulls are 
broken, then cooking. Split peas have their 
hulls removed and on this account are easily 
digestible. 

On account of the large proportion of pro- 
tein which they contain the legumes are capital 
substitutes for meat. Baked, stewed, made 
into soups, purees and roasts — the ways in 
which they can be prepared are legion, and 
make them extremely valuable. But at the 
same time, care should be taken not to eat of 
the legume to the extent of exceeding the 300 
calories of protein which the body requires 
daily. Be careful, also, at the same meal to 
eat freely of the carbohydrate foods, such as 
potatoes and the cereals. 

A nutritious bouillon may be prepared from 
peas and beans, as follows : wash one cup each 
of white beans and dried green peas, and put 
each to cook in one quart of cold water. Cook 
slowly until about one cup of liquor remains. 
Rub through a colander. Add one cup of to- 
mato juice and one-half onion minced, a small 
piece of butter, one-half teaspoonful each of 



VEGETABLES 153 

celery salt and salt. Add together and reheat. 

To make a delightful cream of pea soup, put 
three-fourths of a cup of fresh or tinned peas 
through the colander. Add three-fourths cup 
of milk, the same amount of water, and salt to 
taste. Heat to boiling, then add three-fourths 
cup of cream, and when it reaches the boiling 
point, serve. 

To make a lentil soup, soak one tablespoon- 
ful of lentils in cold water over night. In the 
morning drain off the water and put to cook in 
one-half cup of hot water. Cook slowly for 
one hour. Then put through a colander and 
add to the pulp one-fourth cup of strained 
stewed tomatoes and one-fourth cup of cream. 
Salt to taste. Heat and serve. 

Split peas may be made into a puree by stew- 
ing slowly for several hours until perfectly 
softened, and until the water has nearly all 
evaporated. Put through a colander and sea- 
son with salt. When ready to serve add suffi- 
cient boiling water to make a thick puree and 
serve hot. 

For a soup made from navy beans, wash one 
cup of beans and soak over night. In the 
morning put the beans to cook in the water in 
which they were soaked. Do not parboil, as 
by so doing the natural flavor of the beans 



154 THE FAMILY FOOD 

is lost. Cook until tender, adding more water 
if necessary. If the flavor of onion and celery- 
is desired, add one small onion sliced and two 
stalks of celery about thirty minutes before the 
beans have finished cooking. Then put through 
the colander, season with two tablespoons but- 
ter and salt to taste, and add water to give the 
desired consistency. 

MUSHROOMS 

Mushrooms have a slight nutritional value, 
but in any quantity which would make them 
a factor in the diet they disagree with most 
persons — their digestion requiring three 
hours. They are apt also to contain elements 
of an impure nature, their rapid growth in- 
hibiting a complete chemical transformation 
of the substances found in the soil in which 
they grow. As this is often in an unculti- 
vated piece of ground, the danger is by no 
means fanciful. 

TAPIOCA, SAGO, ETC. 

As indicated in the following table, tapioca, 
arrowroot, cornstarch and sago contain a re- 
markably high proportion of carbohydrate, 
mostly starch, though their restricted use as 



VEGETABLES 



155 



dessert makes them of no great importance 
as factors in the diet. 

Carbo- Total food 

Proteins Fats hydrates Value 

Per Per Per Calories 

cent. cent. cent. per pound 

Tapioca 0.4 0.1 88.0 1,650 

Arrowroot ... 07.5 1,815 

Cornstarch ... 90.0 1,675 

Sago 9.0 0.4 78.1 1,635 

Prepared as puddings, however, these four 
substances represent less, than half as many- 
calories as are contained in the raw product. 



CHAPTER X 

FRUITS 

Except in a few instances (dates, figs, and 
bananas, principally) fruits furnish but little 
nutritive material, and this mostly carbohy- 
drates in the form of sugar. Water forms 
the greater part of its bulk. The following 
table shows the amount of water, proteins and 
carbohydrates contained in the more common 
varieties of fruit: 



Water 

Apples 82.5 

Apples (Dried) ... 36.2 

Pears 83.9 

Apricots 85.0 

Peaches 88.8 

Green gages 80.8 

Plums 78.4 

Nectarines 82.9 

Cherries 84.0 

Gooseberries 86.0 

Currants 85.2 

Strawberries 89.1 

Whortleberries .... 76.3 

Blackberries 88.9 

Raspberries 84.4 

Mulberries 84.7 

Grapes 79.0 

Melons 89.8 

156 



oteins 


^arDO- 
hydrates 


0.4 


12.5 


1.4 


49.1 


0.4 


H-5 


1.1 


12.4 


0-5 


5-8 


0.4 


13-4 


1.0 


14.8 


0.6 


15-9 


0.8 


10.0 


0.4 


8.9 


0.4 


7-9 


1.0 


6.3 


0.7 


5-8 


0.9 


2.3 


1.0 


2.3 


0.4 


14-3 


1.0 


155 


0.7 


7.6 



FRUITS 157 

Carbo- 

Water Proteins hydrates 

Watermelons 92.9 0.3 6.5 

Bananas 74.0 1.5 22.9 

Oranges 86.7 0.9 8.7 

Lemons 89.3 1.0 8.3 

Lemon juice 90.0 0.0 2.0 

Pineapple 89.3 04 9.7 

Dates 20.8 4.4 65.7 

Figs 20.0 5.5 62.8 

Prunes (dried) . . . 26.4 2.4 66.2 

Currants (dried) . . 27.9 1.2 64.0 

Raisins 14.0 2.5 74.7 

Fruits are, however, rich in certain me- 
dicinal properties. In the first place, they 
are — 

Antiseptic. The acids which most fruits 
possess give them powerful germ-destroying 
properties. Oranges and lemons contain 1.3 
and 7.2 per cent, of citric acid respectively. 
Apples and the various berries contain from a 
fraction of 1 per cent, to as high as 1.4 per 
cent, of malic acid, while currants contain 5.8 
and certain kinds of strawberries contain 5 
per cent, of tartaric acid. Taken into the 
stomach and the alimentary canal these acids 
have the power of destroying the germs which 
thrive there. 

Laxative. Practically all fruits have some 
laxative action, especially prunes and figs. 
This action is greater when the fruit is eaten 
alone, either before or between meals, or at 



158 THE FAMILY FOOD 

bedtime. No other food is present at these 
times to prevent the fruit from coming in 
contact with the mucous membrane of the 
stomach and intestinal canal, and so stimu- 
lating them to action; nor will the chemicals 
which they contain be so much diluted 
Prunes and figs, for instance, both particularly- 
laxative foods, will have no special laxative 
effect if eaten with other foods at meal time; 
but, if taken on an empty stomach at bedtime, 
or an hour before breakfast, they will have 
this effect. The worst time for eating these 
fruits is at the end of a heavy mixed meal. 

Antiscorbutic. Fruits, particularly the more 
acid varieties, are an absolute preventive of 
scurvy, and for this reason they should form 
an important part of the winter dietary. 
Fresh fruits are more valuable for this pur- 
pose than preserved fruits, since the latter 
are " put up " with more or less cane sugar, 
which in large quantities is irritating to the 
lining of the stomach and the alimentary 
canal, while fresh fruit is also more easily 
absorbed by the system. Berries, however, 
together with pears, peaches, and similar 
fruits, cannot be secured fresh in the winter 
time except at great expense, and therefore 
must be eaten in their preserved form. 



FRUITS 159 

Stimulating to the appetite. One of the 
most valuable services which fruit performs 
for the appetite is to stimulate the flow of the 
digestive juices. The quickened digestion 
which results, promotes a good appetite, eating 
becomes a pleasure, headaches disappear, the 
brain and body are active, and life becomes 
a delight. Fruits also contain various salts 
and acids which improve the quality of the 
blood. 

Green fruit contains a large proportion of 
cellulose, or woody structure, which renders 
it difficult of digestion. This decreases in 
amount during the ripening process, while 
cooking has the further effect of softening it 
and thus making it more digestible. 

DRIED FRUITS 

Dried fruits have come to occupy a very 
important position in the modern dietary. 
The chief effect of the drying process is, by 
removing the enormous proportion of water 
which they contain, to concentrate the nutri- 
tious substance of the fruit. This in itself 
is not prejudicial to the dried product, but in 
a few instances, the currant and citron, for 
example, the fruit becomes hard to digest. In 
the case of many commercial brands of dates, 



160 THE FAMILY FOOD 

cane sugar is added as a preservative, and this 
in excessive quantities is apt to irritate the 
stomach, though not to detract from the nu- 
tritive quality of the fruit. This last objec- 
tion holds true with reference to jams, pre- 
serves and marmalades. So much cane sugar 
is added to the boiling fruit as to overload the 
system on the one hand, and on the other, to 
irritate the stomach and intestinal linings. 

Unfermented fruit juices are wholesome, 
and have a strong laxative effect. They are 
of special value in the sick room, the patient 
often being able to partake of grape-juice, for 
instance, when more solid foods are forbid- 
den. 

FRUIT EXTRACTS 

Caution should be observed in the purchase 
of flavoring extracts. The food adulterator 
has not passed them by, and his cunning has 
enabled him to imitate the very flavor of fruits 
by the use of injurious chemicals. A State 
health board recently examined twelve sam- 
ples of extracts purchased in the open market, 
and found eight of them to be unconformable 
to the State pure food law. An orange ex- 
tract contained " orange oil 0.41 per cent. 
Much below standard and highly colored. 



FRUITS 161 

Adulterated." Thanks to the Pure Food Law, 
however, a careful study of the label will in 
most cases inform one as to the contents of 
the bottle. 

A home-made orange or lemon flavor may 
be produced by steeping a few strips of the 
rind of lemon or orange in milk for twenty 
minutes. Remove the rind before using for 
desserts. Be careful to use only the yellow 
part, as the white will impart a bitter flavor. 
Grated rind may also be used for flavoring, 
but pains must be taken to grate very lightly 
in order to obtain only the yellow portion, as 
this contains the essential oil of the fruit. 

TINNED FRUITS 

Caution is also advisable in the case of 
tinned fruits. Investigations made by various 
boards of health have shown the presence of 
arsenic, tin, lead, and other poisonous sub- 
stances, the quantity depending upon the va- 
riety of the fruit, and the condition of the 
fruit when tinned, for the fruit acids have a 
tendency to dissolve the tin and other metals 
from the receptacle, and of course the more 
acidic the fruit, and the longer the product 
has been kept, the greater the amount of metal 
which it will have absorbed. 



162 THE FAMILY FOOD 

The tin used in making the cans is often 
of a poor quality, and may contain arsenic, 
which is also dissolved and held in solution 
by the fruit acids. Chemical preservatives, 
such as borax, salicylic acid, benzoic acid, and 
sodium sulphate, are sometimes added to pre- 
vent fermentation, and to retain the natural 
appearance of the goods. For these reasons, 
though the use of metal-tinned fruits is nec- 
essary, still they should not be used constantly 
if it can be helped. 

APPLES 

The apple is one of our best fruits. 
Stewed, it makes a delightful sauce; fresh, 
it is remarkably invigorating and stimulates 
the appetite ; apple pie vies for popularity with 
pumpkin pie; when baked it has a wonder- 
fully delicate flavor; unfermented apple juice 
has valuable antiseptic and laxative qualities, 
and is nourishing and palatable to the invalid ; 
while apple puddings — well, most people 
will declare that an old-fashioned apple pud- 
ding cannot be adequately described. As is 
the case with all fruits, on account of the large 
proportion of carbohydrate present, the raw 
apple should be thoroughly masticated, else 
in the presence of the acid juices of the stom- 



FRUITS 163 

ach it will give rise to fermentation and the 
formation of gas. 

PEACHES AND PEARS 

The peach has very little nutritive value, 
and contains only 0.7 per cent, of acid. Its 
flavor is delicate, however, and it has nearly 
as wide a range of usefulness as the apple. 
It cannot be kept fresh over winter, as can the 
apple, but in these days of evaporated and 
preserved fruit this objection has really little 
weight. Except that they are doubly rich in 
carbohydrates and contain less water, what has 
just been said of the peach is equally true of 
the pear. Because of its tendency to break 
up in cooking, the peach is of little value in 
the making of pies and puddings — in fact, 
it is eaten chiefly in its raw state, or stewed, 
as sauce. 

PLUMS 

Plums and green gages contain, the former 
14.8 and the latter 13.4 per cent, carbohy- 
drates, and each contains just 1 per cent, of 
acid, hence they have no little nutritive value. 
Plums are unjustly reputed to be a cause of 
colic and diarrhea, for it is only fruit that 
has been picked in an unripe condition which 



164 THE FAMILY FOOD 

produces these effects. Fruit which is quite 
ripe may be eaten with perfect safety. 

Prunes, which may be mentioned in this 
connection, contain, dried, 66.2 per cent, car- 
bohydrates, and 2.4 per cent, protein. Plums, 
especially when eaten raw, are apt to derange 
the digestion, producing gas and eructations, 
but cooking lessens this tendency. Prunes, as 
we have already mentioned, have a considera- 
ble laxative value, and in spite of the oppro- 
brium cast upon them by the boarding-house 
wit, they still remain a popular fruit, as well 
they may. 

QUINCES 

While they have some food value, yet in 
the form in which they are usually used — 
as a flavor for other fruit dishes — the extent 
to which they contribute to the support of 
the body is almost negligible. To stew this 
fruit, rub a dozen ripe quinces with a coarse 
cloth to remove the down; cut in halves and 
trim out the blossom end. Pour over them 
boiling water and boil gently until thoroughly 
tender. Remove the skins and seeds and re- 
turn to the water in which they were boiled 
(add more if needed to make up a quart), 



FRUITS 165 

together with one pint of sugar, and cook 
gently twenty minutes. 

For baked quinces, pour over fruit which 
has been pared, cored and halved, a thin syrup, 
and bake in a modern oven. Baste frequently 
and turn until they become tender and acquire 
a reddish color. If desired they may be baked 
without paring. 

AVACADO 

The " alligator pear," or avacado, is a trop- 
ical fruit which is growing in popularity in 
the North. Varieties differ considerably in 
shape and color, the latter ranging from a 
deep purple to light green, while in form they 
vary from that of an eggplant to the common 
plant. In texture the pulp is soft and not 
unlike butter. Owing to the 10.2 per cent, of 
fat which it contains it is commonly used in 
making salads. In addition to the fats the 
avacado contains 1 per cent, of protein and 
6.8 per cent, of carbohydrates. 

THE OLIVE 

Pickled green olives contain 12.90 per cent. 
of fat, and 1.78 per cent, of carbohydrates. 
Ripe olives, pickled, are an exceedingly nu- 



166 THE FAMILY FOOD 

tritious food, with 25.52 and 3.75 per cent, of 
fat and carbohydrates, respectively, while 
olive oil contains over 98 per cent. fat. Green 
olives are as nearly indigestible as a food can 
be, while the ripe fruit, on the other hand, 
is easy of digestion. Several brands of ripe 
olives may be obtained in the open market. 

Olive oil, besides being valuable for its lax- 
ative properties, is one of the most beneficial 
of all foods for persons suffering from tuber- 
culosis, on account of the large amount of 
fat which it affords. It is also useful as a 
dressing for salads, etc. Adulteration is fre- 
quent, however, American lard being exten- 
sively used in France as an adulterant and re- 
imported as pure olive oil. In cases of an 
absolutely pure product the label will state 
the fact. 

BANANAS 

When commercial methods are so perfected 
that they permit us to get bananas in a stage 
that approximates ripeness we of the North 
will wonder how we ever did without them. 
The half-ripened banana as it comes to our 
table is either tasteless or distasteful, and un- 
less it is most patiently chewed, is indigestible. 
In those 'parts of the world where it can be 



FRUITS 167 

procured fresh and ripe it forms the staff 
of life. Banana flour and dried bananas are 
articles of commerce which, as their use be- 
comes more general and new recipes are de- 
vised, are bound to become popular. Fresh 
bananas contain a slight amount of fat, 1.3 
per cent, protein, and 21 per cent, carbohy- 
drates; while banana flour contains practically 
the same quantity of fat, 73.5 per cent, of 
protein, and 79.82 per cent, carbohydrates, 
an increase in nutritiveness due to the fact 
that the drying process preparatory to the man- 
ufacture of the flour removes a large portion 
of the water contained in the fresh fruit. 

GRAPES 

Grapes contain very little nutritive value, 
but the salts which they contain are useful 
to the system, and are easily assimilated. In 
eating them be careful to reject the seeds and 
skins, for being too hard and tough to be 
affected by the digestive juices, they act as 
irritants, and are apt to set up inflammation of 
the membranes. It was at one time thought 
that appendicitis was caused by the entrance of 
grape seeds into the appendix, but scientists 
now assert that this is by no means a common 
cause of the disease. Grape skins and seeds 



168 THE FAMILY FOOD 

are capable of giving rise to diarrhea, enteritis, 
or intestinal obstruction. 

MELONS 

Muskmelon is 89.5 and watermelon 92.9 
per cent, water. For this reason they have 
almost no nutritive value. Eaten in too large 
quantities, watermelon has this additional ob- 
jection, that the large amount of water which 
it contains dilutes the digestive juices and 
makes them less efficient in their work of di- 
gestion. Both varieties of melon are refresh- 
ing and cooling in summer, and eaten in mod- 
eration are by no means unwholesome. 

PINEAPPLES 

Pineapple likewise is made up chiefly of 
water. Like the banana, it is usually shipped 
green, and on this account it is not as digesti- 
ble as when it is perfectly ripe. Its juice, 
however, is wholesome, and contains a fer- 
ment which possesses protein-digesting proper- 
ties. Pineapple juice is often used with suc- 
cess in the treatment of diphtheria and sore 
throat. A physician wrote in a druggists' 
trade journal, some months since : 

" For three or four years I have been hear- 
ing of the use of pineapple juice for the cure 



FRUITS 169 

of diphtheria, but thought little of it. Re- 
cently, however, it has taken better shape in 
the report of a case where a child was given 
up by the doctor, and a friend coming in re- 
marked that he had known children to be re- 
lieved by the pineapple. The physician in at- 
tendance said, ' Get it and try it ; it can do no 
harm.' A ripe pineapple was brought and the 
juice expressed and given slowly in teaspoon- 
ful doses. It seemed to clear the throat, 
swallowing was much easier, and in a few 
hours the child was sleeping. Recovery fol- 
lowed. The pineapple was subsequently used 
with success in a number of cases in the same 
neighborhood, and the people think it better 
than medicine." 

In peeling a pineapple first slice the fruit 
across, rind and all, then take each slice, in 
turn in the left hand and pare it with a sharp 
slim knife, inserting the point and peeling 
downward toward you, close to the rind. 
The eyes are thus left so that they can be 
easily and quickly removed without loss of 
juice. 

THE TAMARIND 

The tamarind is sweet and slightly acid, and 
possesses some laxative properties. 



170 THE FAMILY FOOD 



THE POMEGRANATE 

Notwithstanding its 76.8 per cent, water, 
the pomegranate contains 19.5 per cent, car- 
bohydrate, with 460 calories of food value to 
the pound. When ripe and fresh it is one of 
the most wholesome of foods, though some 
persons are obliged to cultivate a taste for it. 

GRAPE FRUIT 

A fruit which is coming more and more 
into popular favor is the grape fruit, a species 
of shaddock. Eaten at the beginning of the 
meal it has decided laxative and diuretic prop- 
erties. The pulp is somewhat bitter, and on 
this account it has been slow in winning favor. 

LEMON 

There is no more serviceable fruit to be had 
than the lemon. It is fast replacing vinegar 
as a condiment; it is valuable as a flavoring 
material in cooking and baking; in the form 
of lemonade it is a delightful beverage; it 
makes one of the most toothsome of pies ; and 
lemon juice, diluted, is refreshing to the in- 
valid; while at the same time it destroys any 
germs which may be lurking in the stomach, 
and thus lessens the possibility of autointoxi- 



FRUITS 171 

cation. In each of these respects lime juice 
is also valuable, as is also orange juice. Or- 
ange and lemon ices are as popular as ice 
cream, quite as refreshing, and decidedly more 
healthful, since they are usually free from the 
bacteria which abound in cream. All three of 
these citrus fruits have laxative properties and 
are good preventives of scurvy. 

APRICOTS 

Apricots are chiefly valuable for the variety 
which they lend the dietary, though the acids 
which they contain make them slightly anti- 
septic, and on this account tend to discourage 
autointoxication in the alimentary canal. 

BERRIES 

In addition to their food value, which is by 
no means inconsiderable, the berries possess 
a medicinal value. When eaten with their 
seeds the common garden varieties, together 
with huckleberries, blueberries and cranberries, 
are decidedly laxative. They are also rich in 
mineral salts, which give them valuable diuretic 
properties. Owing also to the large propor- 
tion of water present, they exercise a cooling 
effect upon the body. 

Strawberries, so far from being injurious 



172 THE FAMILY FOOD 

in cases of gout and rheumatism, as is popu- 
larly supposed, are beneficial in these cases, 
owing to the potash, soda, lime, and other 
salts which they contain. The great Linnaeus, 
it may be remembered, was once persuaded 
to eat strawberries during a severe attack of 
sciatica, with the result that sleep followed, 
and when he awoke the pain had partially 
subsided. On the following day he ate as 
many strawberries as possible, and on the next 
morning the pain was gone and he was able to 
leave his bed. The next year the pains re- 
turned in due time, but left him as soon as he 
began eating strawberries. 

DATES AND FIGS 

Composed of 65.7 per cent, carbohydrates, 
dates are one of the most nutritious of all 
foods, and for this reason and owing to their 
cheapness they deserve to be more popular 
than they are with the working classes. Be- 
cause of the large quantity of cane sugar used 
in packing the fresh fruit they sometimes irri- 
tate the mucous linings of the stomach and 
alimentary canal and set up inflammations 
which pave the way for gastritis and gastric 
catarrh. This difficulty can be overcome 



FRUITS 173 

largely by mastication and by reducing the 
quantity of sugar eaten in other forms. 

As the packing of dates does not take place 
always under the most cleanly conditions, care 
should be taken to cleanse them carefully be- 
fore using. First put into cold water (hot 
water softens the fruit immediately) to re- 
move the stones, then wash by pouring over 
them boiling water. 

Figs are scarcely less nutritious than dates, 
in addition have a strong laxative effect that 
makes them valuable in cases of constipation. 
When stewed they make a pleasing dessert 
dish. 



CHAPTER XI 

NUTS 

So erroneous is the popular conception of 
the nutritive value of nuts, that a recent text- 
book on dietetics has thought it necessary to 
inform the student that " nuts should be re- 
garded as food, for they contribute to a ra- 
tion an appreciable amount of nutrients." 

Nuts are, indeed, more nutritious than any 
other class of foodstuffs. Six varieties con- 
tain over 3,000 calories per pound : almonds, 
3,030; filberts (or "hazelnuts"), 3,290; 
pecans, 3,445 ; walnuts, 3,305 ; pistachio, 
3,010; cocoanut (shredded), 3,125. Peanuts 
are a close seventh with 2,955 calories, while 
there are less than half a dozen varieties con- 
taining under 1,500 calories per pound. 

This high nutritive value will be better ap- 
preciated when we say that the almond with 
3,030 calories contains in one pound three 
times as much nutrition as the loin of beef, 
with 1,025 calories to the pound, and more 
174 



NUTS 175 

than four times as much as round steak with 
720 calories to the pound. 

The widespread custom of confining nuts to 
dessert has been responsible for much of the 
failure to recognize nuts as a source of food, 
a custom of which Professor Jaffa, an emi- 
nent dietitian, has said : " It is certainly an 
error to consider nuts merely as an accessory 
to an already heavy meal, and to regard fruit 
merely as something of value for its pleasant 
flavor, or for its hygienic or medicinal vir- 
tues." 

DIGESTIBILITY OF NUTS 

Cookery books are beginning to contain 
large numbers of nut recipes, and the tasty en- 
trees and stews and salads in which nuts of 
various kinds and combinations take the place 
of meat enable one to use nuts extensively 
without fear of monotony, and at the same 
time to effect a very material reduction in the 
cost of living. 

A notion has long been current that nuts are 
indigestible. So are most of the vegetables 
which we eat if we do not chew them thor- 
oughly. The only point of difference lies in 
the degree of thoroughness. Nuts are diffi- 
cult of digestion if they are not masticated 



176 THE FAMILY FOOD 

until they become a liquid mass, but when 
reduced to this condition they are as easily di- 
gested, and the system absorbs them as readily, 
as any other food. 

CHESTNUT 

The chestnut is preeminently an energy- 
producing food, with its 37 per cent, of carbo- 
hydrate. Nuts, as a class, are notoriously rich 
in fats, but chestnuts are an exception to the 
rule, containing but 6.7 per cent, and protein 
5.7 per cent. A pound of chestnuts (kernels) 
contains 1,115 calories, or food units. 

In southern Europe chestnuts form a staple 
article of the dietary, being commonly pre- 
pared for the table by removing the skins and 
roasting, boiling, or steaming the kernels. 
They are also frequently ground into a flour, 
from which bread is made. The digestibility 
of the chestnut is considerably increased by 
cooking. 

THE ACORN 

Similar in composition to the chestnut is 
the acorn, which, ground into flour, in olden 
times was extensively used among Oriental na- 
tions for making bread. The cereals, how- 
ever, have so largely taken their place for this 



NUTS 177 

purpose, that they do not figure in the world's 
food supply. 

THE HICKORY NUT 

The nutritious portion of this " character- 
istically American nut " (Hickoria pecan is 
its botanical name), as the hickory nut has 
been called, consists almost wholly of fats, 
and has a food value of 1,265 units, or calo- 
ries. On account of the difficulty in removing 
their hulls — the thin skin which covers them 
— they cannot be prepared in a great variety 
of ways, and their use, consequently, is con- 
fined chiefly to desserts. 

THE WALNUT 

64.4 per cent, of the walnut is fat, with 
16.7 per cent, protein, and 14.8 per cent, car- 
bohydrate. It is a well-balanced food, and is 
highly nutritious, containing 3,305 calories per 
pound. It is widely used as centers for choc- 
olate creams and in cake decorations, also in 
salads and roasts, and in breads and dressings. 
In any of these forms, or eaten alone, walnuts 
are valuable for the fats which they add to 
foods in which carbohydrates or protein are 
apt to predominate. A walnut roast is made 
by chopping walnuts moderately fine and 



178 THE FAMILY FOOD 

adding to one cupful of nuts one cup of well- 
toasted bread crumbs. Mix nuts and crumbs 
with one and one-half pints of rich milk, and 
salt and chopped onion to taste, and bake in a 
moderate oven. 

The black walnut is slightly less nutritious 
than the English walnut, and is less used in 
general cookery, but is quite as digestible when 
care is taken to masticate it thoroughly. 

THE PECAN 

Most nutritious of all nuts is the pecan, with 
3,445 calories per pound of kernels, 70.8 per 
cent, of these being fats. Of all nuts their 
flavor is perhaps the most delicate, which 
makes them one of the choicest of nuts for 
dessert. 

A pecan roast may be made by adding to 
two beaten eggs one cup of milk, one cup of 
cream, salt to taste, one teaspoonful grated 
onion, one cupful rolled bread crumbs, and 
one-half cup chopped pecans. Soak twenty 
minutes and bake in a moderate oven thirty to 
forty minutes. 

THE BUTTERNUT 

Very little claim can be made for the but- 
ternut, as compared with other nuts, on the 



NUTS 179 

score of nutritiveness, for it contains but 430 
calories per pound of kernels, yet this is con- 
siderably in advance of many of the meats 
and vegetables which go to make up our diet- 
ary. Like the pecans, too, it has a flavor all 
its own which makes it a favorite with many 
persons. 

THE FILBERT 

The filbert, or hazelnut, deserves a wider 
recognition from the standpoint of food than 
is accorded it. In point of nutrition it ranks 
next to pecans and walnuts, containing 3,290 
calories to the pound. Of these 65.3 per cent, 
is fat, 13 per cent, carbohydrates, and 15.6 
per cent, protein. So concentrated a food is 
it, indeed, that it should not be reserved to be 
eaten as a dessert after a hearty meal has al- 
ready been eaten, as the custom is, but should 
be given a place in the main part of the meal ; 
or if it must be eaten as a dessert, one should 
" leave room for it." 

BRAZIL NUTS 

The Brazil nut is exceedingly rich in nutri- 
tious oils, 33.6 per cent, being fat. By many 
people it is regarded as difficult of digestion, 
but complete mastication will remove this ob- 
jection in nine cases out of ten. 



180 THE FAMILY FOOD 

THE BEECHNUT 

It is only the squirrel and the small boy who 
know the delightful qualities of the beechnut. 
The precariousness of the crop, added to the 
difficulty of extracting the small kernel from 
its husk, precludes any extensive use. It con- 
tains 34 per cent, fat and 13 per cent, protein, 
and 7.8 per cent, of the starchy element, with 
a total food value of 1,820 calories, so that 
with all the difficulties attending its use it is an 
exceedingly nutritious food. 

This is one of those sources of food that we 
shall learn to cultivate and appreciate with 
the pressure of population on subsistence. 

PINE AND PISTACHIO NUTS 

These two varieties of nuts, particularly the 
latter, are not as extensively used as their nu- 
tritious qualities would justify. The several 
varieties of pine nuts contain 675 to 1,905 
calories per pound, with the proteins, fats and 
carbohydrates well balanced, while the pis- 
tachio kernel contains 3,010 calories to the 
pound. Pine nuts form a delightful addition 
to the ingredients of puddings of various 
kinds. Otherwise, along with pistachios, they 
are a dessert nut. 



NUTS 181 

ALMONDS 

Almonds, because of the small amount of 
sugar which they contain (three to five per 
cent.), are recommended by physicians for 
persons suffering from diabetes. With their 
fine balance of 54.9 per cent, fats, 21 per cent, 
proteins, and 17.3 carbohydrates, a pound of 
kernels (3,030 calories) per day will supply 
the nutrition required by a man doing muscu- 
lar labor. The skin which surrounds the ker- 
nel is tough and apt to be irritating to the 
stomach lining, hence should be removed in 
the diet of a person who is troubled with 
stomach disorders of any kind. This can be 
done by soaking for a short time in hot water, 
when the skin can easily be rubbed off be- 
tween the thumb and forefinger. A pleasing 
sandwich filling may be made from one part 
chopped almonds to two parts chopped celery, 
and moistened with a mayonnaise dressing. 

COCOANUTS 

Of the wide variety of uses to which the 
cocoanut is put, a Maine agricultural experi- 
ment station bulletin says, " The small, green, 
and immature nut is grated fine for medicinal 
use, and when mixed with the oil of the ripe 



182 THE FAMILY FOOD 

nut it becomes a healing ointment. The jelly 
which lines the nut of the more mature nut 
furnishes a delicate and nutritious food. The 
milk in its center, when iced, is a most de- 
licious luxury. Grated cocoanut forms a part 
of the world-renowned East-Indian condiment, 
curry. 

Dried (desiccated) and shredded cocoa- 
nut is an important article of commerce. 
From the oil a butter is made, of a clear, 
whitish color, so rich in fat, that of water and 
foreign substances combined there are but 
0.0068. It is better adapted for cooking than 
for table use. At present it is chiefly used in 
hospitals, but it is rapidly finding its way to 
the tables of the poor, particularly as a substi- 
tute for oleomargarine." 

Over 50 per cent. (50.6 per cent., to be 
precise) of the cocoanut is composed of fats, 
and 27.9 per cent, of carbohydrates, with only 
5.7 per cent, of protein. When used in any 
considerable quantity, foods rich in proteins 
and carbohydrates should be used along with 
it — the legumes, say, for the proteins, and 
rice for the carbohydrates. 

The milk of the cocoanut is composed chiefly 
of water, and is almost wholly devoid of nu- 
tritive qualities. 



NUTS 183 

SHREDDED COCOANUT 

Shredded cocoanut has become an important 
article of commerce, and is considered indis- 
pensable by the housewife. Like the cocoa- 
nut in any form, however, it is difficult of 
digestion, unless pains are taken to give it the 
most careful mastication. 

A delicious sauce may be made from the 
cocoanut as follows: cut fresh cocoanut in 
thin slices and grind the nut very fine in a 
chopper or a strong hand mill. If nothing of 
this sort is available, the cocoanut may be 
grated. To each cup of the prepared nut add 
one pint of hot water, stirring and beating 
with a spoon to extract as much of the juice 
as possible. Drain off the liquid and add a 
second similar quantity of hot water and after 
beating again very thoroughly, strain through 
a thin cloth or very fine sieve, pressing out all 
the liquid possible. This may be used at once 
as a substitute for milk, to be eaten with rice 
or other grains, or to prepare puddings and 
sauces. It is excellent served with toasted 
cereal flakes, or eaten with toast. 

THE PEANUT 

If not the most nutritious, peanuts are cer- 
tainly the most widely used of nuts. They 



184 THE FAMILY FOOD 

are roasted and eaten out of hand or at the 
table for dessert; they are ground into a flour 
from which soups are made; they are made 
into a kind of grits from which biscuits are 
made; and they are ground into a wholesome 
butter to serve as a substitute for dairy but- 
ter, or for sauces or flavorings. 

Roasted, however, they are more or less in- 
digestible, for being really a legume instead 
of a nut, they require thorough cooking just 
as any other vegetable. So nutritious are the 
soups made from peanut flours that they are 
used in the rations of the German army. 

PEANUT BUTTER 

Peanut butter may now be obtained in al- 
most any market, or it may be made in the 
home if desired, as follows: remove the skins 
from the nuts, but do not roast, and grind 
fine in a coffee mill or food chopper. Mills 
made for the purpose may be purchased. The 
meal thus prepared may be cooked by putting 
it dry in the inner cup of a double boiler and 
cooking for eight or ten hours. As it is re- 
quired for use, add water to make it of the 
desired consistency, and cook again for a few 
minutes, just long enough to bring out the es- 
sential oils of the nuts. Water may be added 



\ 



NUTS 185 

as soon as the nuts are ground, and the mix- 
ture placed in a covered vessel and baked from 
eight to ten hours in a moderate oven, if de- 
sired. Butter may be made from almonds in 
a similar way. 

Nuts can be baked like beans as follows: 
to each pound of Virginia peanuts add one and 
one-half teaspoons of salt and a considerable 
quantity of boiling water. Boil rapidly for 
a half hour, then put in a slow oven where 
they will gently simmer for eight to twelve 
hours. When done the nut should be slightly 
juicy. One-half cup of strained tomato, thick- 
ened with two tablespoons of flour, makes an 
appetizing addition to the dish. 



CHAPTER XII 

DAIRY PRODUCTS 

Milk and milk products are perhaps the 
most universally used of all foods. In one- 
half the world rice occupies the position which 
wheat maintains in the other half. But in 
Orient and Occident alike, milk is used as a 
staple by all classes of people. It is also one 
of the oldest of foods, occupying a prominent 
place in the earliest historical narratives. 

During the past century pure milk has been 
the object of a campaign second in extent and 
achievements only to the anti-alcoholism cam- 
paign. So long ago as 1849 an agitation 
arose in New York City against the feeding 
of distillery slops to dairy herds. The agi- 
tation resulted in a reform of this abuse, but 
a few years later the existence of germs was 
discovered, and with improved methods of 
bacteriologic examination the state of the pub- 
lic milk supply began to be looked into. The 
investigations have proved from time to time 
what had long been suspected, that milk is one 
186 



DAIRY PRODUCTS 187 

of the most prolific sources of disease. " The 
filthy food," indeed, it has not inaptly been 
called. " Tuberculous herds " is a term 
which has passed into our every-day language, 
to denote dairy herds one or more of whose 
cows have tuberculosis in a more or less viru- 
lent form which is easily transmitted to man. 
And it is the conviction of most men who 
have investigated the subject that there are 
very few if any herds which are not tuber- 
culous. Typhoid is another disease which 
owes much of its prevalence to milk. 

Dr. Sims Woodhead, the eminent physician 
of Cambridge, England, has said, " Every tu- 
berculous cow is either an actual or a poten- 
tial center of infection. We cannot get rid 
of the great white plague until we take bacilli 
of bovine origin into consideration." 

A CAUSE OF CHILDREN'S DISEASES 

Dr. Schroeder, of the U. S. Department of 
Agriculture, states in a bulletin on " Milk as 
a Carrier of Tuberculosis Infection," that " it 
is a fact, a plain, experimentally demonstrated 
fact, that no one who uses raw milk exten- 
sively can reasonably hope to escape introduc- 
ing many tubercle bacilli into his body. They 
are inevitably consumed in large quantities." 



188 THE FAMILY FOOD 

It is as a source of infantile disorders, how- 
ever, that milk is most fatal. " Herod," says 
a well-known writer, " was a novice in the 
slaughter of helpless infants compared with 
the poison which is sold as milk, although it 
would cost far less to have pure milk than to 
bury our babies. Here is one of the greatest 
food problems now before the American peo- 
ple, for not only will bad milk cause the death 
of hundreds of thousands of infants, but dis- 
eases may be engendered in the years of the 
child's formative state, when the energies of 
the body should be used for growth, and not 
for resisting disorders carried to it by milk. 
A few gallons of bad milk will scatter disease 
and death enough to put a whole community 
in mourning. One-half of America's babies 
die before they are five years old. Many of 
these tiny bundles of humanity never reach 
their second birthday. Boston and Washing- 
ton lose over two hundred and fifty, and New 
York over two hundred and seventy-five chil- 
dren from every thousand born. ' Cholera in- 
fantum,' ' convulsions,' ' gastritis,' ' acute in- 
testinal inflammation ' — these are a few of 
the terms for infantile suffering which fall 
glibly from the doctor's lips when he is asked 
the cause of this fearful death roll, this list 



DAIRY PRODUCTS 189 

of slain, in these piping times of peace, which 
exceeds that of nearly every great battle in 
the history of the world. But the doctor 
knows full well that the real destroyer of our 
youngest citizens is unclean milk." 

Women's clubs, civic organizations, munici- 
pal bodies, and philanthropic individuals, and 
scientific societies have been the chief factors 
in the " clean-up crusade," and results have 
long since begun to appear. In most of the 
larger cities of America depots have been es- 
tablished where " pasteurized," " certified," 
or, in the case of Boston especially, " modi- 
fied " milk may be obtained. 

PASTEURIZED MILK 

Pasteurised, or sterilised, milk is milk which 
has been subjected to a temperature of 157 
F. for ten minutes or longer for the purpose 
of destroying the germs. Pasteurization has 
a tendency to coagulate the albumin of the 
milk and so make it difficult to digest. On 
this account the certified milk is preferable, 
as here the attempt is made by establishing 
cleanly conditions to keep the germs out, 
rather than destroy them after they have once 
gained access. Inspectors make periodical 
visits to the dairies, see that the stables, the 



190 THE FAMILY FOOD 

cows, dairy houses, the bottles, and the at- 
tendants are kept in a condition of the utmost 
cleanliness possible. 

Cow's milk in its raw state is not adapted 
to the digestive apparatus of the human being. 
On entering the stomach it forms into large, 
tough cheese-like curds that require a long 
time for digestion. To make it approximate 
mother's milk, and thus suited to infant feed- 
ing, it is diluted with lime water, and a solu- 
tion of sugar is added. This is known as 
modified, or percentage, milk, and where used 
it has been successful in reducing the mortality 
rate for infants. 

The chief constituents of the kinds of milk 
in most common use are shown by the follow- 
ing table : 

Source Carbo- Calories 

of milk Water Protein hydrates Fats per pound 

Human 87.4 2.3 6.2 3.8 319 

Cow 87.2 3.5 4.9 3.7 313 

Goat 85.7 4.3 4.4 4.8 365 

Ass 89.6 1.3 6.0 1.6 222 

It will be seen from the above table that 
ass's milk more closely resembles mother's 
milk than does cow's milk, except in its total 
food value, but because of the absence of a 
general supply its use can only be resorted to 



DAIRY PRODUCTS 191 

in rare cases of sick-room treatment, when 
the stomach will tolerate no other food. 

The nutritive quality of milk varies with 
herds, individual cows, feed, etc., and it is 
advisable, therefore, to use milk regularly 
from a single cow or herd, so far as possible. 

Condensed milk, unsweetened, has, when 
diluted, about the same food value as fresh 
milk. Sweetened, it is of double the food 
value, due to the sugar which is added in the 
evaporating process. 

CREAM 

After milk has stood for some time the fat, 
on account of its lighter weight, rises to the 
top as cream, the nutritive value of which is 
as follows: protein, 2..J per cent.; fat, 26.7 
per cent. ; carbohydrate elements, 2.8 per cent. ; 
and various salts, 1.8 per cent. The remain- 
der is made up of water. 

Cream, by virtue of the large percentage 
of fat which it contains, is essentially a pro- 
ducer of energy, but its cost renders it rather 
an expensive source of fat. It is one of the 
most easily digested fats, is readily assimilated 
by the system, and where it can be procured in 
sufficient quantity, serves as a valuable food in 
tuberculosis. 



192 THE FAMILY FOOD 

As in milk, the utmost care should be taken 
to secure cream that has been produced under 
the most cleanly conditions possible. Investi- 
gations made by the Oklahoma Agricultural 
Department show germs to be present in cream 
in dangerously large quantities. Tests were 
made during the .months of December, Janu- 
ary, and February which showed the presence 
in the milk of 134,800,000 germs per cubic 
centimeter. 

SKIM MILK 

Skim milk, the milk which remains after 
the removal of the cream, has a food value 
of 170 calories per pound, chiefly proteins and 
carbohydrates, the fats having been removed 
in the form of cream. In bread-making it 
may be substituted for the whole milk which 
many people use. As compared with bread 
made from water, skim milk bread contains 
2,710 calories per pound as opposed to 2,694 
calories. Also in the preparation of- soups, 
such as potato, celery, tomato, green pea, and 
green corn soups; fish, lobster, clam, and oys- 
ter chowders, bisques and stews, skim milk 
will replace whole milk. All kinds of quick 
biscuit, griddle cakes, etc., can also be made 
with skim milk as well as with whole milk. 



DAIRY PRODUCTS 193 

In most kinds of cake skim milk will be found 
a perfect substitute for whole milk. 

ICE CREAM 

Ice cream, when made under wholesome 
conditions, is nutritious, and in the sick room 
is often helpful in relieving the monotony of 
the patient's diet. Owing, however, to the 
fact that oftener than not it is made of impure 
cream and adulterated ingredients, it is apt to 
be swarming with germs as dangerous as those 
which have caused the patient's disease. In 
purchasing cream the utmost pains should be 
taken to know that it has been produced under 
conditions which approximate absolute cleanli- 
ness. 

BUTTER 

Butter contains 85 per cent, fat, no carbohy- 
drates, and 1 per cent, of protein substance. 
It is therefore distinctly an energy-producing 
food, but because of its lack of protein could 
not alone support life for any considerable 
length of time. 

Butter is one of the most digestible of 
foods, and is easily assimilated by the system, 
98 per cent, of the total fat being absorbed 
into the body tissues. 



194 THE FAMILY FOOD 

As purchased in the open market butter is 
frequently adulterated. Stale butter is melted, 
washed, salted, and reworked, resulting in 
what is known as " renovated " butter. Chem- 
ical preservatives are often added to butter 
which is on the verge of decay, while coloring 
materials are sometimes injurious in character. 

The following is a simple test which will be 
found effective in testing butter for adulter- 
ants: a lump of butter two or three times the 
size of a pea is placed in a large spoon and 
heated over an alcohol or gas flame, or when 
more convenient, above the chimney of an or- 
dinary house lamp. If the sample in question 
is fresh and pure it will boil quietly without 
the evolution of numerous small bubbles and 
foam. Oleomargarine and process butter, 
however, will sputter and crackle and froth up 
to a considerable extent. 

The substitutes for butter in most common 
use, oleomargarine and butterine, are made by 
mixing vegetable with animal fats. Colored 
stearin, cotton-seed oil, and lard are the ma- 
terials from which oleomargarine is usually 
made. It has much the same digestibility and 
food value as butter. When sold under its 
true name and not as butter, and when made 
under cleanly conditions and of wholesome 



DAIRY PRODUCTS 195 

material, there is no objection, as it is a val- 
uable food and supplies heat and energy at 
less cost than butter. It will probably be- 
come more frankly recognized as a useful ar- 
ticle of diet. 

For cooking purposes cotton-seed oil and 
other vegetable fats found on the market are 
superior to lard and similar animal fats. 

BUTTERMILK 

The value of buttermilk as a foodstuff is 
rather out of proportion to its energy-produc- 
ing value of 165 calories per pound. The ex- 
treme ease with which it is digested renders 
it of special value in the case of persons with 
weak digestion. It is also valuable in cases 
of catarrh of the stomach, and possesses val- 
uable diuretic properties. Buttermilk, how- 
ever, contains lactic acid, to which its sour 
taste is due, developed during the " ripening " 
of the cream preparatory to the churning. 
This lactic acid possesses powerful germ-de- 
stroying properties, and buttermilk, conse- 
quently, is valuable in freeing the intestinal 
canal of the putrefactive germs which thrive 
there, and which are the chief factor in pro- 
ducing intestinal autointoxication, with its 
headaches, biliousness, and constipation. 



196 THE FAMILY FOOD 

CHEESE 

Because of the large variety of cheeses on 
the market, and the wide diversity in their nu- 
tritiveness, due to the character of the milk 
from which they are made, the following table 
will best set forth their food value : 

Pro- Carbo- Calories 

Kind of cheese teins Fats hydrates per pound 

Limburger 23.0 29.4 0.4 1,675 

Neufchatel 18.7 27.4 1.5 1,530 

Full cream 25.9 33.7 2.4 1,950 

Pineapple 22.6 29.5 1.8 1,700 

Partly skimmed . . . 25.4 29.5 3.6 1,785 

Roquefort 22.6 29.5 1.8 i,7oo 

Skimmed milk 31.5 16.4 2.2 1,320 

Swiss 27.6 349 1.3 2,010 

The digestibility of cheese depends in some 
measure upon what we have referred to as the 
" individual idiosyncrasy." In the case of 
most people, however, it may be said that 
about 95 per cent, of the fats and 92 per cent, 
of the proteins are digested. " Green " 
cheese is more digestible than a better cured 
cheese, though so far as regards the total 
amount digested there is little difference. 
There is also practically no difference in the 
digestibility of the various kinds — Roquefort, 
Camembert, Cheddar, Swiss, etc. 

Cheese is an exceedingly rich food, how- 
ever, and should be eaten sparingly, and then 



DAIRY PRODUCTS 197 

in the midst of a meal rather than as a part 
of the dessert, when a sufficiently heavy meal 
has been eaten and the capacity of the stom- 
ach already reached. 

COTTAGE CHEESE 

Experiments have shown that cottage 
cheese, prepared with cream, compares favor- 
ably with respect to food value and digestibil- 
ity with beef and other meats. One hundred 
pounds of skim milk and four pounds of 
cream, containing 20 per cent, fat, make from 
fifteen to sixteen pounds or more of moist 
cottage cheese. At two cents per quart for 
skim milk and thirty-five cents per quart for 
cream, cottage cheese would cost about eleven 
cents a pound, and compares favorably with a 
cut of meat at the same price, so far as food 
value is concerned. The addition of cream to 
cottage cheese favorably influences both its 
nutritive value and its palatability without in- 
creasing the cost materially. 

In addition, cottage cheese contains large 
numbers of the lactic acid bacilli which in the 
case of buttermilk we have observed as tend- 
ing to destroy the putrefactive germs which 
thrive in the alimentary canal and produce 
autointoxication. 



198 THE FAMILY FOOD 

A pleasing salad may be made from cottage 
cheese, as follows : Drain one cup of cheese 
until dry. Add one-third cup of celery cut 
fine. 

Add the salt and sweet cream and serve with 
mayonnaise dressing. 

KOUMISS AND KEFIR 

These are sour milk preparations in which 
alcoholic fermentation has been begun by the 
use of yeast. Both have a higher food value 
than buttermilk, and contain considerably 
higher proportions of lactic acid, and so have 
a pronounced medicinal value in disorders of 
the intestinal canal, such as intestinal autoin- 
toxication, which is caused by decay of im- 
partially digested remnants of food in the in- 
testinal canal, etc. 

Various sour milk preparations, such as 
lactobacilline and yogurt, are now on the mar- 
ket, in which lactic acid has been produced by 
various species of what are called " lactic acid 
bacilli," or germs. The advantages of most 
of these are twofold : first, they contain less 
alcohol than koumiss and kefir, and second, 
their germ-destroying properties are more 
powerful and more lasting. Tablets for modi- 
fying milk in this way are also sold. 



CHAPTER XIII 

CONDIMENTS AND SPICES 

Spices and condiments contain so little nu- 
tritive material that they can scarcely be said 
to rank as a foodstuff at all. Yet they are so 
extensively used with other articles of diet 
that no consideration of the subject of dietetics 
is complete without some reference to their 
influence on the system. 

Misapprehension exists in the popular mind 
as to the value of condiments. They are gen- 
erally supposed to be beneficial in cases of in- 
digestion by stimulating the secretion of gas- 
tric juice to redoubled activity. In lack of 
appetite, which is usually a symptom of indi- 
gestion of some kind, they are considered ca- 
pable of stimulating a desire for food. 

INFLAMMATION OF THE MUCOUS MEMBRANE 

What condiments really do in such cases is 
to inflame the delicate mucous membrane of the 
stomach and to produce catarrh of the stom- 
ach, and if their use is persisted in, a diseased 
199 



200 THE FAMILY POOD 

condition of the intestines is also likely to re- 
sult. They at first cause more food to be 
eaten than the system demands, and finally 
destroy the appetite, producing chronic dys- 
pepsia of the severest kind. As Abramowski, 
an eminent dietitian, has said, " Pepper and 
mustard, vinegar and pickles, through their 
irritation, create a state of inflammation along 
the whole alimentary canal." 

The only proper stimulation of a weak di- 
gestion is not a condiment of some kind, but, 
in the first place, to reduce the work of the 
stomach to a minimum by chewing the food 
with absolute thoroughness; and second to eat 
no more than the system demands of simple, 
wholesome foods which do not irritate the 
stomach. No one would suggest adding con- 
diments to fresh fruits — and yet just as the 
rich flavors of fruits are themselves sufficient 
stimulants of the appetite, so careful masti- 
cation of the commonest foods brings out 
latent flavors which vie in delicacy with the 
flavors of the richest fruits; condiments and 
sauces can add nothing. 

SALT 

Even sodium chlorid, or common salt, is 
not indispensable, there being " some few 



CONDIMENTS AND SPICES 201 

tribes of flesh-eating men who do not add salt 
to their food, relying for their needs upon 
what they derive from the food itself. This 
supply is therefore sufficient to maintain life. 
In fact, as a rule, man derives enough salts 
from the composition of his food, to supply 
the tissues and juices of the body, and the ad- 
ditional quantity which he takes as table salt is 
mainly of service as a condiment, to give 
agreeable flavor to a mixed diet and to sharpen 
the appetite." 

Many will think the race hopelessly ad- 
dicted to the use of salt, yet the testimony of 
persons who have eliminated salt from their 
diet, is that they have found their food to pos- 
sess delicate flavors of which they were una- 
ware when the presence of salt had deadened 
them. 

PEPPER 

Pepper, one of the most generally used of 
all the spices, and a native of Malabar, Java, 
Borneo, Sumatra, and Guiana, is the fruit of 
the pepper plant. It is the size of a small 
pea, and contains a grayish white seed. Picked 
as soon as ripe and dried on canvas, it be- 
comes, when ground, ordinary gray pepper. 
When the hull or skin of the pepper is re- 



202 THE FAMILY FOOD 

moved before grinding, the ground product is 
the white pepper of commerce. 

Pepper is frequently, one might almost say- 
always, adulterated, the foreign particles 
which form the adulterants being hard to de- 
tect on account of the color and texture of the 
ground product. Buckwheat middlings, char- 
coal, corn meal, roasted nut shells and fruit 
stones and cracker crumbs, are a few of the 
substances in most common use for the pur- 
pose of adulteration. 

CAYENNE PEPPER 

Cayenne, or red, pepper contains slight nu- 
tritive properties, but these are not sufficient 
to offset the effects of the inflammation and 
the deranged digestion which its continued use 
produces in the stomach, and it should there- 
fore be eliminated from the dietary. 

MUSTARD 

Mustard, the ground seed of the mustard 
plant, is used chiefly in salad dressings, and 
with cold meat, and sometimes stimulates a 
laggard appetite. It is an irritant of the 
stomach, however, and its use in any quantity 
cannot be recommended. Adulteration of 



CONDIMENTS AND SPICES 203 

mustard is very common, wheat, corn and rice 
flour being the chief adulterants. 

GINGER 

Ginger is used chiefly as a condiment, though 
it has a slight food value, mostly of the 
starchy element. It lends itself readily to 
adulteration, and examination with the mi- 
croscope often reveals rice, wheat, and potato 
starch, hulls of the mustard seed, exhausted 
ginger from ginger-ale and extract factories, 
sawdust, and peanut shells, artificially colored. 

CINNAMON AND CASSIA 

These two spices are less injurious to the 
mucous lining of the stomach than the condi- 
ments which we have named, and possess, in 
common with nutmeg and allspice, a pleasing 
aroma which is made use of in puddings, cakes 
and other desserts. The nutmeg is the kernel 
from the fruit of an East Indian tree, while 
allspice, or pimento, is the fruit of a common 
West Indian tree. 

CLOVES 

Cloves are the buds of a tropical evergreen, 
picked by hand, and dried in the sun. They 



204 THE FAMILY FOOD 

are wholly innutritious, and are injurious to 
the mucous membrane which lines the stom- 
ach. 

VINEGAR 

Vinegar is entirely devoid of food proper- 
ties, its chief value lying in the flavor and 
palatability which it imparts to other foods. 
The large amount of acetic acid which it con- 
tains is decidedly injurious to the lining of 
the stomach, and produces in the liver a con- 
dition which resembles what is known as " gin 
liver." Lemon juice, either pure or dilute, 
serves practically every purpose of vinegar, 
and is superior to it as a relish for salads and 
greens. 

Vinegar is also used extensively in pre- 
serving foodstuffs of various kinds, but usu- 
ally the foodstuffs are indigestible in them- 
selves, as for instance, green cucumber pickles. 

HORSE RADISH 

Horse radish contains 10.5 per cent, of car- 
bohydrate material, and food value to the ex- 
tent of 230 calories to the pound, but it is so 
excessively irritating to the mucous linings 
of the body as to render it positively injuri- 



CONDIMENTS AND SPICES 205 

ous, in whatever form it is eaten. To a lesser 
extent the same is true of the various 
" sauces " — such as Worcestershire, tabasco, 
catsup, etc. 



CHAPTER XIV 

BEVERAGES 
WATER 

The processes of metabolism which take 
place within the cells are dependent upon the 
presence of water. This is supplied in three 
ways: (i) as a component part of the food 
we eat; (2) as tea, coffee, or other beverage, 
and (3) in its pure form, as it comes from the 
tap. The total amount of water which these 
three sources contribute is from five to six 
pints daily. 

The natural demand for water expresses 
itself in thirst, so no positive rule can be laid 
down, but from one and a half to two pints 
is the normal amount which the system craves. 
This will be less, of course, if tea or other 
beverages are used. The rest of the five or 
six pints is contained in our food. 

Water should be used very sparingly, or not 
at all, preferably not at all, during meal time. 
The digestive juices which are poured over 
206 



BEVERAGES 207 

the food as it enters the stomach are nicely 
adjusted in the proportion of pepsin, hydro- 
chloric acid, etc., which they contain. To 
drink a pint or two of fluid has the effect of 
diluting these juices, and retarding, even pre- 
venting, digestion. 

ICED WATER 

Iced water likewise interferes with diges- 
tion by checking the flow of saliva, and lower- 
ing the temperature under which the digestive 
juices of the stomach perform their work. 
Iced drinks, held in the mouth until they are 
reduced to the temperature of ordinary drink- 
ing water, are quite as refreshing as when 
swallowed hurriedly at a point seventy degrees 
below body temperature. 

Large quantities of water taken at a meal 
are also likely to pass hurriedly from the stom- 
ach into the intestinal canal, carrying with it 
partially digested particles of food. Here 
they ferment and give off poisonous gases 
which make their way into the system and 
produce headaches, biliousness, and other 
symptoms of autointoxication. 

In order that digestion may not be hindered, 
therefore, water should be taken when the 
stomach is empty, which is usually from two 



208 THE FAMILY FOOD 

and a half to three hours, depending upon the 
kind of food eaten and the vigor of the indi- 
vidual's digestion. 

Water passes from the body in four forms 
— sweat, vapor in the expired breath, urine, 
and in the stools. These " excreta " are 
loaded with impurities of various kinds which 
result from the decomposition of worn-out 
cells in the processes of metabolism, so that 
when we facilitate their elimination by drink- 
ing copiously of water we flush the system 
and get rid of what we may call " sewage." 
The best time to drink water for this pur- 
pose is on retiring at night and on rising in 
the morning. Constipation, when it is not too 
far advanced, will be relieved by the same 
means. Cold water is particularly stimulating 
to kidney activity and should be used in prefer- 
ence to warm drinks of any kind. 

DEBILITATION OF THE STOMACH 

An unstinted and long-continued use of hot 
beverages is likely to debilitate the stomach 
and pave the way for constipation, though 
their temporary use may be helpful in reliev- 
ing indigestion. In any case, the beverage 
should not exceed a temperature of 120 to 
160 F. 



BEVERAGES 209 

PURE WATER 

Absolutely pure water is practically un- 
known outside laboratories. Well water, un- 
less brought from a considerable depth, is apt 
to be contaminated by barnyard or cess-pool 
filth, which seepage through the soil does not 
remove from it. Even spring water, which 
in the popular mind is a type of purity, seldom 
escapes contamination, coming as it does from 
recesses hidden somewhere in the earth, but 
just where, and open to what contamination 
no one knows. In many regions, also, par- 
ticularly in mountains, it is apt to contain an 
excess of salts which derange digestion and 
tend to the formation of stones in different 
parts of the body. This is what is known as 
" hard water." The injurious effects of these 
salts may be removed to a great extent by 
boiling the water. 

PUBLIC WATER SUPPLY 

A public water supply, unless filtered by 
the most approved methods, is apt to be un- 
wholesome, since its source receives more or 
less impurity from its watershed. There are 
three methods in use for purifying water, 
namely, distillation, boiling, and filtration. 



210 THE FAMILY FOOD 

DISTILLED WATER 

Distillation frees water of both organic and 
inorganic impurities, so that distilled water is 
absolutely pure, though it is rather fiat and 
tasteless on account of its lack of air. This 
defect may be corrected by shaking air into 
it or pouring the water back and forth from 
one vessel to another. Distilled water is now 
largely used by ships at sea, which are pro- 
vided with proper apparatus for distilling the 
salt water. Small stills for family use are 
now on the market and may be used with as 
little trouble as are filters. 

BOILED WATER 

Boiling renders water pure except for any 
mineral matters which it may contain, and 
even these are reduced in quantity. The proc- 
ess destroys disease germs, removes all or- 
ganic impurities, and eliminates, when they 
are present, those gases which cause poison- 
producing decay. 

FILTRATION 

Filtering clears water by removing its 
coloring matter and foreign substances. The 
best filters, when new, will even rid water 



BEVERAGES 211 

of germs. After they have been used for a 
time, however, the filtering material usually 
becomes permeated with germs which are car- 
ried through with the water in great numbers. 
Care should be taken to cleanse the filter fre- 
quently. Boil the filtering material at least 
once a week, in order to destroy any germs 
which it may harbor. 

Mineral waters, while under the direction 
of a physician, may have some medicinal 
value, yet dietetically they are of no value 
whatever. The mineral salts which they con- 
tain are obtained in sufficient quantities from 
food. 

TEA 

Aside from the cream and sugar which are 
usually taken with it, tea is practically with- 
out nutritive value. Its chief constituents, 
caffein and tannic acid, on the other hand, 
are poisons, and these two facts — that it is 
not a food and that it is a poison — should 
make one hesitate before admitting it into 
his dietary. Yet, as an eminent English phy- 
sician, Dr. John H. Clark, says, " It would al- 
most seem that the human animal is deter- 
mined to assert his superiority over all the 
rest of creation by the ingenuity he shows in 



212 THE FAMILY FOOD 

discovering or manufacturing pleasant poisons 
for himself. The great majority of mankind 
are the slaves to one or more poison habits. 
Of these habits, the tea habit is one of the 
most subtle, insinuating, and injurious. It is 
a moot point with me whether tea does not 
do more harm in this country than alcohol. 
It does not make its victims ' drunk and in- 
capable/ but it certainly does make them 
drunk. To be saturated with tea, to be con- 
stantly under its influence, to be dependent on 
it, is to be tea-drunk. The sooner tea ab- 
stinence societies are organized the better, and 
' Tea Bands of Hope ' should be universal ; 
on no consideration whatever should children 
be allowed to have tea. They might just as 
well be encouraged to smoke cigarettes. 

DELIRIUM TREMENS FROM TEA 

" Persons addicted to tea do not always 
drink it; cases occur in which the tea-habitue 
eats it. In one case of this kind, the victim, 
a woman, who ate quantities of tea, actually 
developed delirium tremens. This, though an 
exceptional occurrence, shows the power of 
the drug over the nervous system, and, of 
course, it is this power of exciting the nervous 
system that gives tea such attraction. 



BEVERAGES 213 

" Many people do not understand how it is 
to have such an appetite for tea, when they 
have little or no care for any other meal — 
if we except the morning cup of tea brought 
up to the bedroom, without which some would 
never get up at all. The reason is this : the 
* sinking, empty feeling,' accompanied often 
by irritability, low spirits, and shortness of 
temper, means that the stimulating effects of 
the last dose of tea are passing off, and 
the stage of reaction setting in. It is just the 
same with the tea drinker as it is with the 
alcohol drinker: when the stimulating effect 
of the last dram is passing off, another must 
be taken to keep up the effect. Thus the vi- 
cious circle is kept up. Tea, like every other 
stimulant, when it helps at all, helps us at our 
own expense. It takes energy out of us in 
one part to put in somewhere else. Hence 
the necessity of not allowing ourselves to be- 
come dependent on it either for our work or 
our comfort. Stimulants of all kinds may 
be very good servants on occasions, but as 
masters, they are, as Sir Wilfred Lawson said 
of alcohol, ' the devil in solution.' Tea be- 
longs to a group of nerve-stimulants which 
enable a person to get more out of himself 
in the shape of body and mental energy than 



214 THE FAMILY FOOD 

he would be able to get without them. This 
is drawing a bill on the bank of his nervous 
system, of course, and the bill will have to 
be met by food and rest, and no great harm 
will be done. But this is not the case when 
once a habit is established. An abnormal rate 
of nerve wear will go on, and this results in 
a fruitful crop of cases of that latter-day 
fashionable complaint — neurasthenia. Allied 
to neurasthenia, and nearly always associated 
with it, is dyspepsia of the nervous or flatulent 
type. Tea can produce any one of these, or 
all combined. 

ONE CAUSE OF GOUT 

" One of the reasons why tea enables a per- 
son to put out more energy than would be pos- 
sible without it is that it arrests the normal 
rate of waste of the ordinary tissues. This 
means that the products of waste which ought 
to be thrown off are stored up in the organism 
instead. Hence it is that tea is one of the 
most prolific sources of gout, with its numer- 
ous progeny of ills and ailings. 

" Another effect of tea is to produce anaemia. 
Servant girls are nearly all great tea drinkers, 
and drinkers of the strongest kinds of tea. 
To this habit much of the anaemia and dys- 



BEVERAGES 215 

pepsia from which they suffer is due. It is 
the tannin which is chiefly accountable for 
this. 

" But," continues the doctor, " is not tea 
an excellent thing for headaches? I am some- 
times asked. Certainly it is, and very often 
for the headaches of its own causing. Head- 
aches which come on for the want of the 
accustomed cup of tea will pass off when the 
tea is taken. Tea, in the same way, is an ex- 
cellent thing for sleeplessness in persons who 
are under its sway. I know many people who 
are dependent on a cup of tea to send them 
to sleep, just as other people are dependent 
on a cup of tea to keep them awake. But 
if there had been no tea habit established tea 
would not send people to sleep. As for keep- 
ing people awake, it is all very well once in 
a while to use tea for this purpose ; but if peo- 
ple habitually keep themselves awake with tea 
when they ought to be asleep, a nervous break- 
down is certain to take place sooner or later." 

TURNS MEAT INTO LEATHER 

Tea has a disastrous effect upon the diges- 
tion of flesh foods, for the tannin which it 
contains has the effect of tanning the albumin 
of the meat and making it about as hard to 



216 THE FAMILY FOOD 

digest as the heavy sole leather which it closely 
resembles. 

Of the further effects upon digestion Dr. 
Nathan S. Davis has said that tea should not 
be used by dyspeptics or by persons who are 
constipated. When taken in excessive quan- 
tities it produces wakefulness, nervousness, 
excitability, and even muscular unsteadiness 
and twitching of the muscles. The digestive 
disorders due to its tannic acid are much more 
pronounced when tea is drunk to excess than 
are its stimulating effects. Flatulence, gas- 
tric distress, constipation, often irregularity of 
the heart action, and sleeplessness are the 
predominant symptoms of tea-drinking. Tea 
is not disposed of by the stomach so rapidly 
as water. It is estimated that a pint of the 
latter is passed on into the intestine within 
an hour, while half as much tea remains in 
the stomach for from one to two hours. 

TEA DRINKERS ARE CONFIRMED DYSPEPTICS 

An editorial article which appeared in the 
Lancet (London) a few years since confirms 
the assertions of Dr. Davis: "As a factor 
in disease, excessive tea-drinking is very often 
overlooked, and it does not occur to many 
persons that tea may be the source of their 



BEVERAGES 217 

trouble. In poor families where the teapot 
is always on the hob, and the worst qualities 
of the leaves are thoroughly extracted, the 
imbibition of the poisonous stew being in- 
dulged in all day, the effects on the health have 
many points in common with those arising 
from the alcohol habit. Such persons are, as 
a rule, ill-nourished, tea often being taken 
effectively to stay the pangs of hunger. They 
are confirmed dyspeptics. Gastric ulcer is 
common among them, and their nervous sys- 
tem is seriously affected." 

Green tea differs from the black merely in 
the method in curing. " Black tea is made 
by ' withering ' the freshly picked leaves in 
the sun. They are then mashed and rolled 
in order to break the fiber and cells of the 
leaf and liberate their constituents. After 
this the leaves are gathered together and fer- 
mented, during which process a part of the 
tannic acid in them is made less soluble and 
the essential oils are modified in character. 
They are again exposed to the sun, and 
finally ' fired,' or dried in an oven. Green 
teas are withered in pans that are at a tem- 
perature of 160 F. ; in Japan they are 
steamed. They are then rolled, withered 
again, sweated in bags, and finally slowly 



218 THE FAMILY FOOD 

roasted. These processes of manufacture 
modify the composition of the product." 

COMPOSITION OF BLACK AND GREEN TEAS 

The two principal elements, tannic acid and 
caffein, exist in black and green tea respec- 
tively as follows : 

Tannic Acid Caffein 

Black tea 16.40 3.24 

Green tea 27.14 2.33 

The disparity between the two varieties in 
the matter of tannin, is great, and vastly in 
favor of the black. In preparing the beverage 
attention should be paid to eliminate, so far 
as possible, tannic acid from the brew. The 
following method accomplishes this object as 
effectively as any : pour boiling water over the 
leaves and allow it to stand from three to five 
minutes, though its stimulating effects are not 
sensibly increased, yet it becomes stronger in 
tannin and darker in color. 

Another method of making tea is to let it 
stand for several hours in cold water. A 
method used in England is to drop the tea 
gently on hot water and pour off the brew as 
soon as the leaves have all uncurled and settled 
to the bottom of the pot. The water used in 
tea making should be fresh boiled and not too 



BEVERAGES 219 

hard. If stale boiled water is used its air will 
be driven out completely and the tea rendered 
less palatable. 

COFFEE 

The active chemical constituent in coffee is 
caffein, identical with the caffein (or theine, 
as it is sometimes called) of tea, and of de- 
cided stimulating qualities. It quickens men- 
tal processes, makes the mind wakeful and 
restless, and lessens the sense of weariness. 
It deepens respiration, and increases the force 
and rapidity of the heart beat. 

Dr. H. H. Rusby, of the College of Phar- 
macy of the City of New York, goes farther 
than this and asserts that " caffein is a genuine 
poison, both acute and chronic. Taken in the 
form of a beverage, it tends to the formation 
of a drug habit, quite as characteristic, though 
not so effective, as ordinary narcotics. While 
not cumulative in substance, it is so in effects, 
permanent disorders of the cardiac function 
and of the cerebral circulation resulting from 
its continued use. When the caffein is taken 
in more concentrated and seductive forms, as 
in confections and the like, such as the ' stored 
energy ' cubes sold some years ago, cumulative 
results become correspondingly greater." 



220 THE FAMILY FOOD 

SYMPTOMS OF COFFEE POISONING 

A common symptom of coffee poisoning is 
headache. " Physicians, it has been said, rec- 
ognize the caffein headache in those who are 
excessive users of tea and coffee. Cessation 
of the use of coffee and tea result in the dis- 
appearance of many of the ailments from 
which tea and coffee drinkers suffer. Weak 
tea or coffee, in moderation, may not appear 
to affect the individuals who use them, but 
the majority of tea and coffee users use these 
beverages to the extent of several cups a day, 
usually at meal time, and always strong. 
There is a tea and coffee drunkenness just as 
there is a drunkenness in the use of alcoholic 
liquors, morphine, cocaine, or opium." 

It has been said that coffee drunkards in 
Paris are considered hopeless, whereas those 
suffering from alcoholic excesses can be 
patched up. 

Coffee can in no sense whatever be regarded 
as a food, and while in certain cases its laxa- 
tive qualities are valuable in overcoming con- 
stipation, yet the dangers which attend the 
introduction into the system of a positive poi- 
son, and the risk which one runs of establish- 
ing a baneful habit, should serve to deter one 



BEVERAGES 221 

from resorting to it, except when under med- 
ical advice, caffein is prescribed. 

METHODS OF PREPARATION 

Of the various ways of preparing the bev- 
erage, the percolator method has a great ad- 
vantage in point of flavor, while at the same 
time coffee made in this manner is likely to 
contain fewer objectionable chemical qualities 
than when made after the older method of 
boiling. 

Reference may be made, in this connection, 
to cereal coffee substitutes. " A few of these 
preparations," says a government bulletin, 
" contain a little true coffee, but for the most 
part they appear to be made of parched grains 
of barley, wheat, etc., or of grain mixed with 
pea hulls, ground corncobs, or wheat mid- 
dlings. It is said that barley or wheat, 
parched, with a little molasses, in an ordinary 
oven makes something indistinguishable in 
flavor from some of the cereal coffees on the 
market. If no coffee is used in the cereal 
preparations, the claim that they are not stim- 
ulating is probably true. As for the nutritive 
value, parching the cereals undoubtedly renders 
some of the carbohydrates soluble, and a part 
of this soluble matter passes into the decoc- 



222 THE FAMILY FOOD 

tion, but the nutritive value of the infusion is 
hardly worth considering in the dietary." 

An objection against drinking at all during 
the meal may be brought against these prepa- 
rations, that they dilute the digestive juices 
and tend to carry particles of undigested food 
from the stomach into the intestines. 

COCOA AND CHOCOLATE 

Cocoa and chocolate are made from the 
cocoa bean, the seed of the Theobroma cacao, 
a tree of tropical America. The bean is en- 
cased in a yellowish pod from which it is re- 
moved and subjected to fermentation. They 
are then dried by exposure to air and light, 
which hardens them and gives them a reddish 
color. The fermentation lessens the acidity 
and bitterness which characterize the bean in 
its unfermented state, and usually develops the 
flavor peculiar to the ground product. 

The cocoa bean in its natural state contains 
from 40 to 50 per cent, fat, part of which 
is removed in the manufacture of cocoa and 
sold as " cocoa butter." 

After the drying process the bean is next 
ground and sold as " cracked cocoa," or " co- 
coa nibs." From these nibs the various 
brands of cocoa and chocolate are made, their 



BEVERAGES 223 

composition varying as more or less fat is re- 
moved, and according to the nature and quan- 
tity of ingredients which are added. 

Chocolate is a preparation of cocoa to which 
sugar, starch and flavoring materials have been 
added, usually containing sugar to the extent 
of 50 per cent, or more. 

NUTRITIVE VALUE 

As compared with tea and coffee, cocoa is 
decidedly nourishing. Its food value is due 
to the fat that it contains. The starch and 
protein are too inconsiderable in quantity to be 
of much account. The beverage usually is 
made with milk, sugar being added to it in 
varying amounts, these substances increasing 
its nutritive properties very much. Ten grams 
of cocoa, the amount usually used in making 
a cupful, yields forty calories. When made 
with milk and sugar, the beverage will yield 
four hundred calories. The stimulating ef- 
fect of theobromin is different from that of 
caffein, to which it is chemically related, in 
that it does not cause sleeplessness or muscular 
tremors. Under its influence the mind be- 
comes less alert, but it relieves a feeling of 
muscular fatigue in much the same way. The 
excessive use of cocoa does not produce the 



224 THE FAMILY FOOD 

nervous symptoms characteristic of the use of 
tea and coffee, though it is likely to cause in- 
digestion because of the large amount of fat 
in it and sugar added to it. If in making the 
beverage not too much cocoa and sugar are 
used, it is digestible, somewhat nutritious, and 
mildly stimulating. 

COCA AND COLA 

The products, the former made from the 
cocoanut, the latter from the leaves of a trop- 
ical plant {Erthroxylon cocoa), enter into the 
manufacture of several soda-fountain bever- 
ages. Cola contains a considerable quantity 
of caffein and theobromin, a slight amount of 
tannin, and some fat, sugar, starch and albu- 
minous material. From it a beverage may 
be prepared by infusion, like coffee, and served 
with cream and sugar. Sleeplessness and 
nervousness, however, are likely to result from 
its continued use. 

DANGER OF COCA 

Coca contains as its chief chemical constit- 
uent cocaine. It deadens the sense of hun- 
ger, and stimulates the mental faculties, but its 
use is dangerously apt to develop the cocaine 
habit. 



BEVERAGES 225 

SODA FOUNTAIN DRINKS 

Of an examination of soda-fountain prepa- 
rations made from these two products, the re- 
port of the Chief Chemist of the Bureau of 
Chemistry, United States Department of Agri- 
culture, for 1908, says: "Approximately 
eighty samples of these products have been ex- 
amined. The investigation was undertaken 
for the purpose of ascertaining the nature and 
character of the beverages sold principally at 
soda fountains, and special attention was given 
to the detection and estimation of caffein, co- 
caine, and coloring matter. A complete analy- 
sis has been made in every case, not only to 
determine the composition of the product, but 
also to ascertain whether the ingredients 
claimed to be present were actually used in 
preparing the drinks. With few exceptions, 
all contain caffein added as sUch. In fact, the 
caffein is rarely introduced by using an ex- 
tract of the plant or article containing the 
caffein in natural combination. Cocaine was 
also found to be present in a large number, 
and many were artificially colored with coal- 
tar, and agents derived from vegetable and 
animal sources. 

" The caffein present in an ounce of medi- 



226 THE FAMILY FOOD 

cated soft-drink syrups, the quantity usually 
entering into a glass of the drink, varied from 
a trace to 1.2 grains. A considerable number 
of the medicated soft drinks were free from 
cocaine, and when its presence was established 
the amount varied from a trace to 0.05 grains 
to the ounce, the average amount used in pre- 
paring a glass of the beverage. Fifty-four 
cups of tea and coffee, as served at representa- 
tive hotels, cafes, and restaurants of Washing- 
ton, were collected and analyzed for the pur- 
pose of ascertaining the quantity of caffein 
present and comparing it with the amounts 
contained in the medicated soft drinks. The 
average amount of caffein per cup of coffee 
was 2.2 grains, varying from 1.33 grains to 
3.74 grains. The average contents of caffein 
per cup of tea was 0.98 grain, varying from 
0.31 grain to 2.15 grains. An interesting 
point brought out is that tea and coffee served 
at the better class hotels as a rule contain a 
greater per cent, of caffein." 

ALCOHOL 

No occasion would be given a book on food 
to include in its pages a mention of alcohol, 
except that a mistaken notion is abroad that 
alcohol has a positive food value. 



BEVERAGES 227 

Alcohol possesses no food value whatever. 
It at first stimulates a worn-out mind or body- 
to renewed exertion, but creates no new en- 
ergy; reserve power is drawn upon, and 
sooner or later the fund will be exhausted, and 
collapse will occur. 

The various alcoholic drinks, notably beer, 
seem to possess nutritive qualities, inasmuch 
as an increase of fat often results from their 
use. This is explained, however, by the fact 
that alcohol retards the processes of metabo- 
lism; the cells are not so rapidly broken down 
by exertion, and part of the food which ordi- 
narily would supply heat and energy is stored 
up in the system as reserve fat. 

The reserve, however, is purchased at a 
fearful cost. It has been shown that alcohol 
is ruinous to digestion; it destroys nerve con- 
trol; it makes its victim susceptible to kidney 
and liver disorders, arteriosclerosis, tuberculo- 
sis, diabetes and gout, and destroys that vital 
resistance which is the body's chief defense 
against disease. 

Even if it possessed the slightest amount of 
nutritive material one would be at a loss to 
give a reason for drinking alcohol, since it 
unfits a man for the duties and the pleasures 
of life. A recent work on sociology puts this 



228 THE FAMILY FOOD 

aspect of the question in a forcible manner, 
thus : " Other things being equal, the same 
man will do better work without alcohol than 
with alcohol ; the same athlete will be stronger 
and more alert without alcohol than with al- 
cohol; the clerk or lawyer or teacher will win 
promotion earlier without alcohol than with 
alcohol ; a man or woman will grow old quicker 
with than without alcohol. Other things be- 
ing equal a man of fifty will have greater con- 
fidence in a total abstainer than in a man of 
identical capacity who uses alcohol moder- 
ately; a mother will give better vitality and 
better care to her children without than with 
alcohol; a policeman or fireman or stenog- 
rapher is more apt to win promotion without 
than with alcohol. Whatever the physical ail- 
ment, there is in every instance a better rem- 
edy for an acute trouble, and infinitely better 
remedies for deep-seated troubles, than alco- 
hol." 

Why, we say, should one drink it? 



CHAPTER XV 

CATERING FOR THE SICK 

Catering for the sick is a subject concern- 
ing which one cannot lay down hard and fast 
rules in every case. In acute diseases the pa- 
tient must to a large extent be fed under the 
directions of a physician; while in any dis- 
order an individual case may have peculiarities 
which require treatment different from that 
applied to another patient suffering from the 
same trouble. 

Each disease, likewise, requires a diet suited 
in quality and quantity to its symptoms, due to 
the fact that the body consumes more heat in 
one disease than another — in fever, for in- 
stance, the patient burns up, as we say ; metab- 
olism takes place very rapidly, so much so that 
the body tissues themselves are consumed. 
The diet must be of a kind that will check this 
destruction of body tissue, without at the same 
time overloading the digestive organs, which 
are exceedingly weak. In tuberculosis, on the 
other hand, the consumption of body tissue is 
229 



230 THE FAMILY FOOD 

even more rapid, while the digestive organs, 
at the same time are rapid, often abnormally 
so. In the one case the object is to keep the 
ration as low as a weak digestion demands, of 
a kind that will make good the tissues wasted 
by disease. 

APPETITE CAPRICIOUS IN DISEASE 

Also a patient has a capricious appetite. He 
easily tires of food; often feels hungry with- 
out being just certain of what he wants ; while, 
again, he often cannot tolerate food when as a 
matter of fact his system demands it. These 
various factors combine to make invalid feed- 
ing a difficult problem — too difficult to permit 
of more than a few general principles being 
laid down for guidance in milder cases and 
when it is impossible to reach a physician. 

Digestive disorders form the largest group 
of diseases, and of these constipation is the 
most common. This most often occurs among 
sedentary workers, hence the first preventive 
measure is exercise for the purpose of main- 
taining constant activity of the alimentary 
canal — ■ and walking is the best of all exer- 
cises for constipation, a good brisk walk of 
several miles each day; second, the formation 
of habits which make evacuation regular and 



CATERING FOR THE SICK 231 

thus prevent the accumulation in the intestine 
of decaying foodstuffs which produce bilious- 
ness and autointoxication, which in turn ag- 
gravate the constipation ; and third, the use of 
those foods which least tend to the production 
of indigestion and autointoxication, for so 
closely associated are these two disorders with 
constipation that where one or the other is 
there will constipation be found also. 

CONSTIPATION 

Where constipation has once gained a foot- 
hold, diet becomes of paramount importance. 
Those foods must be used which will stimulate 
the intestinal canal into activity. Fruits, al- 
most without exception, are laxative, fresh ap- 
ples and oranges being particularly so, as also 
berries, either fresh or stewed. Prunes, 
raisins, figs and dates are helpful in cases of 
constipation, and should be eaten at the be- 
ginning of the meal. Nuts are also of a laxa- 
tive nature, but should be carefully masticated. 
Coarse breads, preferably pumpernickel, gra- 
ham, rye, and whole wheat, also toasted cereal 
flakes, should be eaten, together with plenty of 
butter. Honey may also be eaten freely. 
Coarse vegetables, such as asparagus, cauli- 
flower, spinach, lettuce, celery, potatoes, gar- 



232 THE FAMILY FOOD 

den peas, and carrots, should form a part of 
the dinner, since these afford a bulk to the 
intestines which assist in stimulating them to 
activity. With spinach and lettuce olive oil 
may be used as a dressing, this being a par- 
ticularly laxative food. Japanese seaweed, or 
agar-agar, obtainable at any drug store, is also 
valuable in cases of constipation, owing to the 
stimulus to peristalsis which its bulk affords. 

WATER BETWEEN MEALS 

Water should be taken freely between meals, 
a glassful being drunk on rising and one on re- 
tiring. It is better to drink little or not at all 
during the meal. If a beverage is desired at 
meal time a glass of unfermented apple juice 
or orange juice will be found advantageous. 
In most cases of constipation fresh milk 
should be omitted from the dietary because 
of its tendency to form curds in the stomach, 
but for it may be substituted buttermilk or 
koumiss. Tea, coffee, meats (on account of 
their tendency to decompose in the intestines), 
eggs, and an excess of condiments and spices 
should be avoided. 

Indigestion is often present in cases of con- 
stipation, and may be a cause of it. Among 
the various causes of indigestion are an ex- 



CATERING FOR THE SICK 233 

cess or a deficiency of hydrochloric acid in the 
gastric juice, and a deficiency of the gastric 
juice itself. 

In the case of hyperpepsia, or an excess of 
acid, those foods should be eaten which con- 
tain a minimum of acid. Eat freely of foods 
rich in fat, such as butter, nuts and olive oil. 
Egg yolk, the various legumes eaten in the 
form of purees, honey, prunes, steamed figs, 
the pulp of stewed raisins, baked potatoes 
thoroughly masticated, toasted wheat and corn 
flakes, and whole-wheat bread may also be 
eaten when this condition is present. Drink 
as little as possible — not more than a glass- 
ful — during the meal. A glass of hot water, 
or two, drunk a half-hour before mealtime is 
often helpful in these cases. 

" HYPOPEPSIA " 

In hypopepsia, on the other hand, indiges- 
tion is produced by a deficiency of acid in the 
gastric acid, and on this account an abundance 
of fruits of all kinds may be eaten, also butter- 
milk, which is rich in lactic acid, potatoes, 
those nuts lowest in fats, eggs, purees made 
from the legumes, and the various cereal 
flakes. The diet for hypopepsia is not, indeed, 
a restricted one, beyond the omission of those 



234 THE FAMILY FOOD 

foods which are rich in fats, as butter, certain 
of the nuts, olives and olive oil, etc. Bulky- 
foods should also be avoided. 

Half a glass or so of cold water taken half 
an hour before mealtime is sometimes helpful 
in hypopepsia, as it serves to stimulate the 
stomach to a more active secretion of gastric 
juice. This measure is also useful in indiges- 
tion due to a deficient quantity of the gastric 
juice. 

Careful mastication cannot be too strongly 
insisted upon in hypopepsia, for the reason 
that a greater or smaller amount of food 
passes unaltered into the intestinal canal to be 
digested by the intestinal digestants, and com- 
plete salivary digestion will insure thorough 
intestinal digestion. 

Gas on the stomach is very often the result 
of an excess of acid, and the adoption of the 
diet suggested for hyperpepsia will usually re- 
lieve the difficulty. Pain due to distention of 
the stomach walls may often be lessened by sip- 
ping hot water. 

DILATATION OF THE STOMACH 

Dilatation of the stomach is one of the most 
serious of gastric disorders, and often presents 
symptoms which make medical consultation ad- 



CATERING FOR THE SICK 235 

visable. Owing to the difficulty with which 
fluids pass out of the stomach, liquid foods, 
such as soups and beverages, should be eaten 
very sparingly. Bulky foods, which both tend 
to distend the stomach, and excess in eating, 
should be avoided, and the amount of fats 
should be limited. Wheat, corn and rice 
flakes may be eaten freely, as also purees made 
from the legumes, boiled or poached eggs, rice 
well boiled or steamed, sweet fruits, zwieback, 
and as little butter as possible. 

Green vegetables may be eaten, but should 
be finely minced. Owing to the readiness with 
which they undergo decomposition and pro- 
duce distending gases, meats should be avoided, 
likewise cane sugar. Water should be used 
with moderation, not at all at mealtime, 
and sparingly — preferably sipped — between 
meals. 

Physical exercise is also helpful, particularly 
those movements which tend to strengthen the 
muscles which compose the stomach walls, and 
upon whose activity the peristaltic movements 
depend. These exercises, together with drink- 
ing a glass of cold water before mealtime, will 
also tend to stimulate the secretion of gastric 
juice, which is usually deficient in quantity in 
cases of dilation. Lying on the right side for 



236 THE FAMILY FOOD 

two hours after a meal is also useful, since it 
aids in the expulsion of the chyme from the 
stomach into the intestines. 

GASTRITIS 

Acute gastritic is almost always a result of 
wrong habits of eating, such as insufficient 
mastication; as a result the food enters the 
stomach in chunks, ferments and gives off ir- 
ritating poisons; over-eating, which fills the 
stomach with food which the body cannot use, 
and which ferments, and likewise produces 
irritating poisons ; a free use of condiments and 
spices, which act as a decided irritant to the 
delicate mucous lining of the stomach ; gravies 
and sauces rich in greases, coat the stomach 
and food particles with fats, through which 
the gastric juice cannot pass to attack the food. 
Rest for the stomach is the best treatment in 
these cases. If the patient is vigorous, food 
may be entirely withheld. If nourishment is 
demanded, however, milk may be given, di- 
luted with lime water or barley water to pre- 
vent the formation of curds within the stom- 
ach. Whey may also be substituted for milk. 
Albumin water may also be given. Water 
should be taken cold, but sipped. Return to 
a normal diet should be very gradual and 



CATERING FOR THE SICK 237 

under the advice of a physician, and the evil 
habits which produced the disease should be 
discarded forever. 

Chronic gastritis is sometimes but by no 
means always a result of acute gastritis. 
Habitual over-eating; the constant use of rich 
sauces, gravies, irritating spices and condi- 
ments ; alcohol ; heart, liver, and lung diseases ; 
anaemia and other disorders which withdraw 
the circulation of blood from the stomach — 
any of these may cause chronic gastritis. 

Absolutely thorough mastication is the first 
essential. Care of the teeth is also important, 
as is also the reduction of the food ration to 
just the amount needed to supply the body 
with heat and energy. Eating between meals 
should be avoided. Milk, diluted with lime 
water, a glassful every two and a half or 
three hours, may sometimes be given, but if 
curds form in spite of the lime water the 
milk should be discontinued entirely. Butter- 
milk, koumiss and similar lactic acid prepara- 
tions are sometimes tolerated by the patient. 
Albumin water may also be given. Meats, 
because of the readiness with which they fer- 
ment and produce irritating poisons, should be 
omitted from the dietary. Dry toast or zwie- 
back, with a little butter, may be given. 



238 THE FAMILY FOOD 

As the patient improves, rice, well boiled, 
or steamed, baked potato, shredded wheat bis- 
cuit, flaked cereals, spinach finely minced, 
baked apple, orange juice, and custard may 
be given in small quantities. Water should 
be taken very sparingly, preferably not at all, 
at mealtime. Fried foods, coarse vegetables, 
pastries of all kinds, condiments, spices, alco- 
holic drinks, hard-boiled eggs, the excessive 
use of fats — all these, with foods which ha- 
bitually disagree with the patient, should be 
eliminated. 

ULCER OF THE STOMACH 

Ulcer of the stomach presents symptoms 
more obstinate than any which we have yet 
observed. The problem before the patient is 
to allow the ulcers to heal while, at the same 
time, taking sufficient food to insure the body 
proper nourishment. The various means 
which we have mentioned should be adopted 
for the prevention of irritation of the stomach 
lining — a minimum allowance of food, thor- 
ough mastication, and the disuse of irritating 
spices, condiments and pastries. 

At first take milk, diluted with equal parts 
of lime water, or with barley water or oat- 
meal water, a tablespoon ful every half hour 



CATERING FOR THE SICK 239 

or hour, later on increasing to a half -glass 
every two hours. It may be necessary to con- 
tinue this feeding for three weeks or more, 
when a return to a normal diet may be begun 
by adding egg albumen, rice, zwieback, butter- 
milk, koumiss, and full milk if sipped slowly, 
and for several months avoiding acid fruits, 
sweets, condiments, spices, and coarse and un- 
minced vegetables. Rectal feeding is often 
necessary in severe cases, and should be given 
under the direction of a physician. 

Cancer of the stomach presents so many 
complications, and the treatments must be so 
varied and so nicely adjusted to the peculiar 
condition of the patient that all regulation of 
the dietary should be made under the super- 
vision of a physician. Diet restriction, how- 
ever, is much the same as in gastric ulcer, 
milk diluted with lime water, or buttermilk, 
forming the basis of the diet, and with coarse 
vegetables and other irritating foods elim- 
inated entirely. Soups and purees, soft-boiled 
or poached eggs, and stewed non-acid fruits 
may also be given. 

DYSENTERY 

One of the most common disorders in sum- 
mer is dysentery. During the first day or two 



240 THE FAMILY FOOD 

very little food should be eaten, preferably 
none at all. By this means the irritation of 
the stomach is reduced and an opportunity is 
given the bowels to become cleansed. Avoid 
those foods which we have already named 
as tending to ferment quickly. Soft-boiled 
or poached eggs may be eaten, also barley 
water, rice water or flax-seed tea, flavored 
with lemon juice. If emaciation is present, 
olive oil, freely used, will be beneficial. The 
return to a more substantial diet should be 
guided by the advice of a physician. 

Acute diarrhea may be caused by irritation 
of the mucous membrane which lines the in- 
testinal canal by undigested foods, by harsh, 
undigestible residues of foodstuffs, such as un- 
ripe fruits, some of the coarser vegetables, or 
by the production of poisonous gases from de- 
caying food substances. Highly seasoned 
foods and a too free use of purgatives are also 
intestinal irritants. In the summer time ex- 
cessive drinking of water and soda-fountain 
drinks are prolific sources of diarrhea. 

The first step toward relief is to abstain 
from food for twenty-four hours, though 
water may be taken in small quantities. In 
eating be careful to choose non-irritating and 
easily digested foods, and avoid over-eating. 



CATERING FOR THE SICK 241 

Milk, if it agrees with the individual, is one 
of the best of diets. Any tendency to form 
curds in the stomach may be overcome by 
diluting with lime water. Albumin water 
may be substituted for the milk, if desired. 
Six ounces once in three hours may be given 
in most cases, but sometimes it is necessary 
to restrict this to an ounce or two every hour 
until relief has set in. Return to a normal 
diet should be gradual — baked potato, zwie- 
back, the flaked cereals, followed by the 
legumes, vegetables, eggs, etc., as the condi- 
tion permits. Meats, sauces, spiced foods and 
condiments, cheese, tea and coffee should be 
very gradually returned to, if at all. 

Where diarrhea has become chronic the in- 
testinal digestive juices are constantly alkaline, 
and as a consequence fats and starches are not 
easily digested. The aim should be to avoid 
those foods which increase the catarrh of the 
intestines, and select those that have an as- 
tringent effect. In some cases an absolute 
milk diet gives a cure, but in others milk does 
not agree with the individual. Milk is best 
given hot, in small quantities at frequent in- 
tervals, as it tends to allay peristalsis. Egg 
albumin is good, whole eggs being cautiously 
used, since the yolk is liable to undergo fer- 



242 THE FAMILY FOOD 

mentation. Meat and starchy foods should 
be withheld. When convalescence has set in, 
zwieback, milk toast, and purees of peas or 
potatoes, may be gradually added to the diet. 
Avoid cold drinks and vegetables containing 
much cellulose, such as cabbage, spinach, beets 
and other roots, also acids and sugars, sub- 
stituting malt sugars for sweetening purposes. 

Infant diarrhea is in most cases the result 
of germ infection caused by impure milk in 
the case of bottle-fed infants. A certified 
public milk supply is the best preventive in the 
one case, and cleanliness of mother and child 
and home surroundings in the other. Milk 
should be withheld for twenty-four hours, 
though in case nourishment is demanded albu- 
min water may be given if the stools are not 
putrid. Milk diluted with lime water may be 
substituted for milk in cases where acid fer- 
mentation is present, with sour stools. Kou- 
miss has also proved valuable in some cases. 
Cholera infantum and chronic infant diarrhea 
present serious symptoms which demand the 
advice of a physician, though where a physi- 
cian cannot be reached quickly the above sug- 
gestions may be followed temporarily. 

In the case of breast-fed children a simple, 
wholesome diet on the part of the mother will 



CATERING FOR THE SICK MS 

do much toward preventing infantile digestive 
disorders. Spices and condiments, tea and 
coffee, iced foods and drinks, pastries and 
sweets, rich gravies and meats, should be 
eliminated and the diet made to consist of 
nutritious, easily digested and assimilated 
foods, carefully masticated, care being taken 
to avoid an excess. 

OBESITY 

In obesity the diet should be so regulated 
as to facilitate consumption of the body of 
accumulated fat, and to prevent its reaccu- 
mulation. This is brought about by a reduc- 
tion of foods, and particularly of the fats 
and carbohydrates. In many cases two-thirds 
the ordinary number of calories will be suf- 
ficient, the reduction consisting in lowering 
the carbohydrate intake one-fourth to one-half 
the ordinary number of calories. The feeling 
of weakness often experienced when the diet 
is reduced will be obviated if the daily ration 
is spread over several light meals. 

The starches, present in abundance in 
breads, cereal flakes, mushes, sugars, rice, 
dried fruits and in some of the nuts, must be 
greatly reduced, also the fats in the form of 
butter, fat meats, olives, cream, etc. A sur- 



244. THE FAMILY FOOD 

plus both of fats and carbohydrates is stored 
up in the body as fat, and will be drawn upon 
as a source of heat and energy when the diet 
contains a quantity of these elements insuf- 
ficient to supply the body with heat and energy 
for its various activities. The green vege- 
tables, owing to the fact that their food con- 
tent is low and that their bulk facilitates per- 
istalsis, may be eaten freely, the potato, Irish 
and sweet, however, being used only in moder- 
ation, as also milk. A small quantity of gra- 
ham or whole-wheat bread should be eaten in 
preference to white bread. 

Avoid a variety in the diet, as this stimu- 
lates the appetite and makes more food im- 
perative. Indeed, in cases of a naturally vig- 
orous appetite it is sometimes advisable pur- 
posely to make the diet monotonous, so as to 
lessen the desire for food. Water need be 
restricted only when its free use increases the 
desire for food. 

Physical exercise must supplement dietetic 
treatment of obesity, but in severe cases this 
should be prescribed, in kind and quantity j by 
a physician. Its object is to augment the con- 
sumption of fat by means of an increase in 
body energy. It may easily be dangerous in 
method and amount. 



CATERING FOR THE SICK 245 

GOUT 

Gout, like appendicitis, is a product of ease 
and luxury — it is practically unknown among 
people whose diet is simple and whose per- 
sonal habits are abstemious. The first reme- 
dial measure is to reduce the quantity of food 
to the amount actually needed, in order to 
eliminate the poisonous substances, or toxins, 
which result from the decay of excess food. 
An individual who has reached middle life 
needs less food than he did in his youth; this 
is especially true when, as is often the case, 
he has also retired from business and leads a 
more or less inactive life. Yet it is a fact 
that most people eat as heartily, even more so 
when one has little else to do, at fifty as at 
twenty, until gout attacks them. 

The measure of next importance is to select 
those foods which reduce to a minimum the 
production of toxins. Meat should be wholly 
eliminated from the dietary on account of its 
tendency to make uric acid elimination diffi- 
cult. Eggs should be avoided, also cheese, 
spices and condiments, and rich gravies and 
sauces. The legumes may be eaten in small 
quantities. All the vegetables may be eaten 
except cabbage, rhubarb and spinach; toma- 



246 THE FAMILY FOOD 

toes may be used in small quantities. All the 
cereals may be used, save oatmeal. Fruits 
are allowable, care being taken to chew ba- 
nanas with absolute thoroughness. Milk may 
be freely eaten, except in cases where it nat- 
urallyi disagrees with the individual, and in 
these cases buttermilk or koumiss can often be 
substituted. Water may also be freely taken, 
but alcoholic drinks of every kind, as well as 
tea and coffee, should be avoided. 

APPENDICITIS 

Appendicitis, like gout, is unknown to peo- 
ple whose diet is simple, excluding spices, con- 
diments, and other substances which inflame 
the stomach, and avoiding those foods which 
favor the growth of putrefactive germs within 
that part of the intestine to which the appen- 
dix is attached. For it has been definitely 
proved that grape seeds and similar particles 
within the appendix do not cause appendicitis. 
Foreign substances are frequently found there 
in cases of appendicitis, it is true, but that 
is a mere incident. The disease began when 
an undigested piece of steak stewed in hot 
Worcestershire came along, the sauce burning 
the delicate mucous membrane of the colon, 
and the steak decaying and producing vast 



CATERING FOR THE SICK 247 

quantities of poisonous germs and toxins. Or 
it may have been the cabbage which was 
bolted, at dinner, the harsh cellulose likewise 
inflaming the colon. Purgatives are known 
often to cause appendicitis, also alcoholic 
drinks, hence the prevention of appendicitis 
is a matter of intestinal hygiene. It must be 
remembered that the contents of the small in- 
testines are emptied into the colon just a slight 
distance above the lower end of the colon, 
and that this lower end serves as a sort of 
reservoir in which collects many of the poison- 
ous and irritating substances which empty into 
it from the small intestines. It should be re- 
membered further that intestinal hygiene con- 
sists in providing one's self with food which 
contains a minimum of these toxic substances. 
So far as diet is concerned, the treatment 
of appendicitis consists in withholding all solid 
food until the vomiting and pain have ceased. 
A two or three days' fast may be made with- 
out injury. As much water as may be nec- 
essary to relieve thirst may be taken, but meat 
juices and milk should be withheld, also cane 
sugar, tea, coffee, coarse vegetables, and all 
foods which would irritate the mucous mem- 
brane of the colon. A small quantity of well- 
cooked rice, together with sweet fruit juice may 



248 THE FAMILY FOOD 

be taken until the patient's condition indicates 
a return to the normal diet. Just when this is 
advisable, however, should be determined by 
the attending physician, as should also the na- 
ture of the supplementary treatments given in 
appendicitis, such as hydrotherapy, rest, etc. 
If prompt attention is given to the diet as soon 
as the first symptoms appear, and other reme- 
dial measures instituted by the physician, it 
is improbable that a surgical operation will 
be necessary, for it has been observed that 
proper treatment will cure 95 per cent, of all 
cases without the removal of the appendix. 

FEVER DIET 

The object of a fever diet is to afford the 
body its nourishment in a form that can be 
easily digested and that when assimilated will 
not materially add to the heat of the body, 
which is already high. Fruit juices — apple, 
grape, and orange — are best suited for this 
purpose, owing to the fact that they require 
no digestion and also allay rather than create 
heat. Fats should not be given in any form; 
proteins should be given in very small quan- 
tities, since the gastric juice is so impaired that 
protein digestion easily overtaxes the system, 
and is at the same time so imperfect that the 



CATERING FOR THE SICK 249 

system becomes filled with toxins which im- 
pose a severe burden upon the weakened kid- 
neys and other excretory organs in their at- 
tempt to eliminate them. It is on this account 
that meat and meat juices are now recognized 
to be a poor fever diet. Milk is open to the 
same objections, and has this additional draw- 
back, that the curds which form in the stom- 
ach are indigestible and tend to feed the fever 
rather than assuage it. Buttermilk, malted 
milk, koumiss and whey may often be substi- 
tuted for fresh milk in cases where they agree 
with the individual. 

After a few days, when in the opinion of 
the physician they can be taken with safety, 
gruels and broths may be added to the diet 
in small quantities. Crisp cereal flakes or 
bread crumbs, toasted, may be eaten in the 
broths after having been allowed to become 
thoroughly softened. The more solid foods, 
with their increased protein, should be added 
slowly, and under the direction of the physician 
in charge of the case. 

bright's disease 

Treatment in cases of incipient Bright's dis- 
ease, so far as diet is concerned, lies in the 
abstaining from those foods which contain 



250 THE FAMILY FOOD 

uric acid and other substances which were the 
chief instrument in causing the diseased con- 
dition of the kidneys. Meat foods of all kinds 
must be avoided on this account, also tea and 
coffee on account of the tannic acid, thein 
and caffein which they contain. An exces- 
sive use of salt is in the highest degree in- 
jurious, while alcoholic drinks of every kind, 
tobacco and spices and condiments, should be 
wholly discarded. Thorough mastication is 
important, since it lessens the production of 
toxins, which in their elimination impose a 
severe burden upon the kidneys. When the 
disease reaches a chronic stage dietetic treat- 
ment must be accurately prescribed to meet 
the individual case, but the first purpose of all 
treatment must be to heal the kidneys by re- 
lieving them of the burden of excreting neces- 
sary poisons. 

DIABETES 

A food ration for diabetics seeks to reduce 
the carbohydrate element of the diet to the 
lowest extent possible, especially the sugars, 
using in their stead the fats, which the sys- 
tem is able to utilize as carbohydrates. In 
some cases, however, the fats cannot be greatly 
increased, owing to their tendency to produce 



CATERING FOR THE SICK 251 

indigestion. The fats also are often less eas- 
ily assimilated by the system alone than when 
carbohydrates are present. For this reason 
the extent to which fats may be substituted for 
carbohydrates must depend upon the advice 
of the physician in attendance. 

Common white or brown bread should be 
avoided. This works a hardship to most peo- 
ple, but a not unpleasing substitute may be 
found in the gluten flours on the market, from 
which a bread may be made that is low in its 
proportion of starch and other carbohydrate 
material. Almond flour answers the same 
purpose, as also soya-bean flour, though the 
taste of the latter is objectionable to many 
persons. Potatoes are fast replacing bread 
as a food for diabetics, and have many points 
in their favor over an exclusive diet of fats. 

The fats, to whatever extent given, should 
consist chiefly of salad oils, ripe olives, butter, 
cream, cheese, and buttermilk. The pro- 
teins need not be restricted beyond the usual 
ration, so long as the state of the digestion 
permits of their use. In many cases, how- 
ever, gastric digestion has also been weakened, 
and the digestion of protein thus becomes 
difficult. Eggs, soups, purees, and green vege- 
tables which have a low percentage of carbo- 



252 THE FAMILY FOOD 

hydrate, such as lettuce, spinach, turnips, as- 
paragus, celery, cauliflower, tomatoes, etc., 
may be eaten freely. The fruits which are 
permitted are those having a low percentage 
of starch and sugars, such as fresh oranges, 
lemons, cherries, plums, acid apples, pears, the 
various berries, and melons. Dried fruits, 
also bananas, grapes and figs, should be 
avoided. Excepting the chestnut, the various 
nuts may also be eaten. 

TUBERCULOSIS 

The composition of a tuberculosis diet is a 
disputed point in scientific circles, but the opin- 
ion is coming to prevail, first, that the supply 
of fats and carbohydrates must be sufficient 
to offset the consumption of the body tissues 
by disease, and second, that because of their 
tendency to set up putrefactive processes which 
poison the tissues and produce autointoxica- 
tion, proteins should be limited to the natural 
demands of the body. Since in the latter re- 
gard they are the greatest offenders, meats 
should be excluded from the dietary, their 
place being taken by the legumes, nuts, and 
other foods which contain enough protein to 
meet the demands of the system. Eggs, be- 
ing rich in albuminous matter, should be re- 



CATERING FOR THE SICK 253 

stricted in quantity, though the yolks eaten 
alone may be used freely. Pure milk, where 
it agrees with the individual, may be taken 
without injury, while butter and cream should 
occupy an important place in the dietary. Ripe 
olives and olive oil should be depended upon 
for part of the fats. To supply the carbo- 
hydrates, eat freely of rice, the various cereal 
flakes, fruits, fresh and dried, and potatoes. 
The various garden vegetables may also be 
eaten freely; spinach and tomatoes being es- 
pecially valuable on account of the iron which 
they contain. 

As in every disease, so in tuberculosis, diet 
must be determined to a considerable extent 
by the condition which the physician finds 
present in the individual case, but any varia- 
tion of the above ration will be in quantity 
rather than in the kind suggested, while at 
the same time absolute rest and an outdoor 
life are of quite as much importance as the diet 
itself. 

Others of " The Family Books " are : 
The Family Health, by Dr. M. Solis- 

Cohen. 

The Care of the Child, by Mrs. Burton 

Chance. 



254 THE FAMILY FOOD 

The Family House, by C. F. Osborne. 
Home Decoration, by Dorothy T. Priest- 
man. 



INDEX 



A cause of Children's 

Diseases 187 

Acorn, The 176 

Adulteration 41 

Advantages of Cook- 
ing by Electricity. . 81 
Age as related to 

Food 35 

Aladdin Lamp, The.. 80 

Alcohol 226 

Almonds 181 

Antiscorbutic proper- 
ties of Fruits 158 

Antiseptic Acids of 

Fruits 157 

Appendicitis 246 

Appetite capricious in 

disease 230 

Apples 162 

Apricots 171 

Artichokes 137 

Asparagus 145 

Avacado 165 

Autointoxication, 16, 
44, 83, 96, 117, 141, 
170, 171, 19s, 197, 
207 231 

B 

Baked Barley 126 

Baking tj 

Balance between Food 

and Exercise 15 

Bananas 166 

Barley 125 

Barleyade 128 



255 



Beechnuts 180 

Beef 84 

Beef, Food Value of 

various cuts 85 

Beef Tea 88 

Beets 137 

Berries 171 

Better food at less 

cost 7 

Beverages 206 

Black and Green Teas 

compared 218 

Boiled Rice 122 

Boiled Water 210 

Boiling Food 71 

Braising 76 

Brazil Nuts 179 

Bread 107 

" Graham 109 

Breakfast Foods 103 

Bright's Disease 249 

Brussels Sprouts 143 

Buckwheat 131 

Bulk goods are nutri- 
tious 43 

Burning the garbage. . 55 

Butter 193 

Buttermilk 195 

Butternuts 178 

c 

Cabbage 140 

Cancer of the stomach 239 
Canning, What and 

when to do it 49 

Care of the Refrigera- 
tor 57 



ZoQ 



INDEX 



Carrots 138 

Cassia 203 

Catering for the sick. 229 

Catsup 205 

Cauliflower 141 

Cause of Fatigue.... 16 

Cayenne pepper 202 

Celery 143 

Cereals 132 

Cheese 196 

" Cottage 197 

Chemical Effect of 

Cooking 70 

Chestnuts 176 

Chocolate 222 

Choosing Cuts of meat 44 

Cinnamon and Cassia. 203 

Cloves 203 

Coca, dangerous 224 

Cockroaches 65 

Cocoa and Chocolate. 222 
<« « « 

Nutritive value of . . 223 

Cocoanuts 1S1 

Coffee 219 

" Methods of 

preparation . . 221 
" Poisoning, 

Symptoms of. 220 

Cola 224 

Cold climate, Heavy 
diet unnecessary 

for 31 

" Dinners cause 

indigestion 36 

Comparative prices of 

food 47 

Composition of Black 

and Green Teas... 218 
Condiments and spices 199 

Constipation 231 

Cooker, The Fireless. 78 

Cooking 69 

" an Aid to Di- 
gestion 69 



Cooking by Electricity, 

Advantages of 81 
" Chemical ef- 
fect of 70 

Corn 113 

" Bread 116 

" Green 117 

Corn-meal Mush 116 

Cost, Better food at 

less 7 

Cottage Cheese 197 

Crackers no 

Cream 191 

Cucumbers 149 

D 

Dairy Products 186 

Dandelions 142 

Dates and Figs 172 

Debilitation of the 

stomach 208 

Delirium Tremens 

from Tea 212 

Destroy the flies 64 

Diabetes 250 

Diarrhea 240 

Diet, Fever 248 

" for children 15 

" " mental Effi- 
ciency .... 13 
" " Muscular 

Efficiency . 30 
" " Women ... 14 
" " sick, 89, 127, 

160 229 

Digestibility an Eco- 
n o m i c 
Factor . . 48 
of Le- 
gumes 151 
" Meat . 83 
" Nuts . 175 
" O a t- 
meal . 129 



INDEX 



25T 



Digestibility of Rice . 120 
Digestion and the 
eight-hour 

day 37 

" difficult dur- 
ing sleep... 36 
Dilation of the stom- 
ach 234 

Diseases of Children, 

A cause of 187 

Dish cloths and dishes 67 
Disinfecting fruits and 

vegetables 63 

Distilled Water 21a 

Drinking Water, How 

to cool '58 

[Dysentery 239 

E 

Eat according to your 

vocation 18 

Eggs 97 

Eight-hour Day and 
Digestion 37 

F 

Family food 7 

Fatigue, Cause of 16 

Fever Diet 248 

Figs 172 

Filberts 179 

Fill the cellar in au- 
tumn 49 

Filters 60-61 

Filtration 210 

Fireless cooker 78 

Fish 98 

Flies, Destroy the 64 

Floor and Wall cover- 
ings 65 

Food and Exercise, 
Balance 
between 15 
" " Health . 9 



Food, How to measure 

your 24 

" The Family.... 7 
" values of dif- 
ferent kinds of 

Fish 99 

" values of vari- 
ous cuts of 

beef 85 

" values, Table 

of 22-24 

Fruits and vegetables, 

Disinfecting 6^ 

Fruits — Antiseptic 

acids 157 

— Dried and 

Green 159 

Fruit Extracts 160 

" Laxative prop- 
erties of 157 

" stimulates ap- 
petite 159 

" —Table of 
Nutritive values 

IS6-I57 

Fruits — Tinned 161 

Frying 75 

Fuel problem, The... 66 



G 

Game Birds 96 

Garbage, Burning the 55 

Gastritis 236 

Ginger 203 

Gout 245 

" One cause of... 214 

Graham Bread 109 

Grape fruit. 170 

Grapes 167 

Green Corn 117 

Tea 217 

" Vegetables ... 235 
Gruel, Oatmeal 130 



258 



INDEX 



H 

Health, Food and.... 9 
Heavy diet unneces- 
sary in Cold Cli- 
mate I31 

Hickory Nuts 177 

Hoe-cake 115 

Hominy 117 

Horse Radish 204 

How to cool Drinking 

Water 58 

" " measure your 

food 24 

Hygiene of the Kitch- 

„ en 54 

Hyperpepsia 233 

Hypopepsia 233 

I 

Ice Cream 193 

Iced Water 207 

Ideal Meal Schedule. 26 
Indigestion caused by 

Cold Dinners 36 

Influences of season. . 35 

Insulated Stove, The. 79 



Johnny Cake 114 

K 

Keeping Well, Science 

of 7 

Keep the Sink clean. 56 

Keep well and save 

money 10 

Kefir and Koumiss. . 198 

Kinds of Work as re- 
lated to Food 34 

Kitchen Hygiene 54 

Wastes 54 

Koumiss 198 



L 

Laxative properties 

of fruits 157 

Left-over foods 53 

Legumes — 'Table of 

food values 151 

Lemons 170 

Lettuce 145 

M 

Macaroni 112 

Meals, Number of... 25 
" Suggestive .27-29 
Meat an expensive 

food 46 

" Choosing cuts 

of 44 

" Digestibility of 83 

" Foods 82 

" Juices 87 

" Prices 45 

Melons 168 

Mental Efficiency, Diet 

for 13 

Menus, Suggestive. .38-39 
Metabolism defined. .. 32 
Methods of preparing 

Coffee . . 221 
" " Sterilizing 

Water . . 60 
Milk, dangers of.. 62, 186 
" Pasteurized ... 189 
Muscular Efficiency, 

Diet for 30 

Mush, Corn-meal.... 116 

Mushrooms 154 

Mustard 202 

Mutton 94 

N 

Noodles and Macaroni 112 
Number of Meals 25 



INDEX 



259 



Nutritive value of Co- 
coa and Chocolate. 223 

Nuts 174 

" Digestibility of. 175 



Oatmeal, Digestibility 

of 129 

" Gruel 130 

Oats 128 

Obesity 243 

Oleomargarine 194 

Olives 165 

Olive Oil 166 

One cause of gout... 214 

Onions 146 

P 

Parched Corn 118 

Parsnips 138 

Pasteurized Milk 189 

Peaches and Pears... 163 

Peanuts 183 

Peanut Butter ... 184 

Pearl Barley with 

Raisins 127 

Pecan Nuts 178 

Pepper 201 

Physical Exercise.... 235 

Pineapples 168 

Pine and Pistachio 

Nuts 180 

Plums 163 

Pomegranates 170 

Popped Corn 118 

Poisons (toxins), 16, 

17, 33, 91 162 

Pork, Food value of 

various cuts 90 

Potatoes 134 

Poultry 95 

Prepared Beef 87 

" Pork 92 



Prices of food com- 
pared .... 47 
" " meat .... 45 
Proper diet, Value of 9 
Proteins decay readily 17 

Prunes 164 

Ptomaine poisoning 

„ •• 42, 87 

Public Water Supply. 209 

Puddings 155 

Puffed and flaked rice 124 
Pumpkin and Squash. 148 

Pure Food Law 42 

" Milk problem.. 62 

" Water 209 

Purifying the water 
supply 61 

Q 

Quinces 164 

R 

Radishes 140 

Refrigerator, Care of. 57 
Relation of Seasons 

to diet 20 

Rhubarb 146 

Rice 119 

" Boiled 122 

" Digestibility of. 120 

" Gruel 123 

" Puffed and 

Flaked 124 

Roasting 73 

Rye 125 

S 

Sago 154 

Salsify 139 

Salt 200 

Sapsage 93 

Science of keeping 
well 7 



260 



INDEX 



Seasonal influences. .. 35 
Seasons to Diet, Re- 
lations of 20 

Shell-fish 100 

Shopping Economies. 40 

Shredded Cocoanut. . 183 

Sick, Catering for the 229 

" diet for, 89, 127, 160 

Sink, Keep clean 56 

Skim Milk 192 

Sleep, Digestion diffi- 
cult during 36 

Soda Fountain Drinks 225 
Soups, Vegetable. .152-153 

Spices 199 

Spinach and Dande- 
lions 142 

Squash 148 

Steaming jj 

Sterilization of Water 60 

Stewing 72 

Stomach, Dilation of 

the 234 

Ulcer of 

the 238 

Succotash 118 

Suggestive Meals. ..27-29 
" menus ..38-39 

Summer Squash and 
Vegetable Marrow. 149 

Sweet Potato 136 

Symptoms of Coffee 
Poisoning 220 

T 

Tabasco Sauce 205 

Table of Food values 

22-24 

" Wastes 51 

Tamarind, The 169 

Tapioca and Sago.... 154 

Tea 2il 

" Drinkers are 
confirmed dys- 



peptics 216 

Tea turns meat into 

leather 215 

Tests of wheat 105 

Tinned Fruits 161 

Toast and Zwieback, no 
Toasted Wheat Flakes in 

Tomato 150 

Toxins.. 16, 17, 33, 91, 162 

Tuberculosis 252 

Tuberculous herds... 187 
Turnips 139 

U 
Ulcer of the stomach 238 



V. 

Value of proper diet. 9 

Veal 89 

Vegetables 133 

Vegetable Marrow... 149 
" Soups .152-153 

Venison 95 

Vermin 65 

Vinegar 204 



w 

Wall and floor cover- 
ings 65 

Walnuts 177 

Wastes, Kitchen 54 

Table 51 

Water 206 

" between meals 232 

" Boiled 210 

" Distilled 210 

" Supply 59, 209 

" " Purify 

" the 6* 

What and when to 
can 49 



INDEX 261 

Wheat 104 Worcestershire Sauce 205 

When the cell wears 



out 32 



Z 



Women, diet for 14 Zwieback no 



AUG 30 1911 



One copy del. to Cat. Div. 



Mlfi 30 



